Not a single ST student was admitted in 11 depts at IIT Bombay the last five years, RTI reveals

Only 1.6 per cent were from ST category and 7.5 per cent were from SC category, and 19.2 per cent were from OBC category, the APPSC has found

Johanna Deeksha

Edex Live

IIT Bombay

According to information accessed by the Ambedkar Periyar Phule Study Circle (APPSC) from IIT Bombay through an RTI, between 2015 and 2019, out of 26 departments, 11 of them did not admit a single ST student. These departments include Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Climate Studies, Mathematics etc. With regard to SC students three departments admitted only one SC student and two, SJM School of Management and Centre of Research Engineering did not admit any SC students at all.

However, Prof Amitava De, the Dean of Academic Programmes, IIT Bombay maintain that the institute has followed all the reservation norms in letter and spirit. But the APPSC also claims that there hasn’t been a single department that correctly followed the reservation norms during this period — five departments admitted less than five OBC students in the last five years and one did not admit any student from the community and Of the 2,874 candidates selected for PhD, only 1.6 per cent were ST candidates and 7.5 per cent were SC candidates and 19.2 per cent were OBC candidates. In comparison, 71.6 per cent were from the general category.

According to reservation norms, the OBCs have 27 per cent reservation while SC and ST have 15 and 7.5 percent respectively. The APPSC says that the institute has claimed that this shortfall is due to the cut-off mark as per the GoI, “But they did not clarify what the guidelines devised by the GoI in the case of cut off marks for admission are. The reservation policy has itself been introduced in IITs only much later than it was in other institutions, which is in 1973. The way the cut-off marks function now, is in addition to the basic eligibility criteria, almost a deterrent for ST, SC and OBC students from joining the institute at all, “ the APPSC wrote in their statement on the issue. 

 

A poster by the APPSC

 

According to the RTI, five departments admitted less than five OBC students in the last five years and one did not admit any student from the community. Out of the 8827 SC students who applied, only 216 were admitted in the last five years. Three departments admitted only one SC student and two did not admit any SC students. And out of 1522 ST students who applied, only 47 were admitted in the last five years. 

But the Association claims that there has been a systemic practice of exclusion across all the IITs, “This is visible in the number of  SC/ST/OBC students being admitted, as the data submitted by Union Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal in the Parliament suggests. We strongly demand the removal of this additional cut-off and the following of the reservation policy in its true spirit,” they demanded.

Speaking to Edex, an APPSC spokesperson said that the suicide of Aniket Ambhore,  in 2014, which allegedly was caused due to caste-based discrimination has been central to how they define the functioning of the Association. It was also one of the reasons, the APPSC has been working towards bringing out the numbers and demanding better representation in the student population, “After protests, there was a three-member committee formed to look into the suicide. There are many issues still unresolved from those days and APPSC wanted to act on them in a coherent manner. Last year, after the suicide of Fathima Lateef (student of IIT Madras), the discussion on discrimination on campus again sprang up. Where via the forum of IIT Bombay For Justice, formed by four organisations coming together, we asked specific questions related to discrimination on campus to SC/ST cell, to which we never received satisfactory answers. In a parallel discussion with the student organisation in IIT Madras, the idea of filling an RTI came up.” Subsequently, the APPSC decided to file RTIs to get the status of implementation of reservation policy in PhD admissions.

The students accuse the institute of not being responsive, “Initially the administration showed interest in meeting with us, but since then, they have been ignoring us, you can see the mail we sent. Faculties are also not responding much.”

 

Not much has come of it though. “Despite constant follow-ups by the organisation, the institute has not yet discussed the reservation violations. The SC/ST student cell has responded that issues related to reservation violations do not come under their purview. We have repeatedly approached the administration since last July for a meeting, but they have declined to discuss this grave violation of reservation policy,” the APPSC said. 

“The MHRD and the UGC mandate that if the institute fails to implement the stipulated reservation for a  year, they are required to re-advertise the seats, call for admissions again, and if they still fail to fulfill the required number of seats, they should carry forward those seats into the subsequent year. IIT Bombay should explain why they haven't been following any of these mechanisms, despite seats being left vacant for years,” the students demand to know. 

"Since IITs are being projected as Institutes of Eminence and they are entranced in the logic of 'merit', what this cut-off mark does is put a lot of power in the hands of the select committee, so even if a candidate is eligible to appear for the exam, the committee can reject a student by providing them a score less than the cut-off. In many of the IITs departments, there is no score given for the interview they just get told - 'yes' or 'no'. Over the years since 1973, how many seats have been denied to SC/ST students? And how many reserved for OBCs have remained vacant since 2008? All IITs have to come forward and make the number public. That will be the first tiny step towards being accountable and changing things. Once that number is known, a mechanism can be devised to fill up the seats," the student opines.

The student alleges that there is an opaqueness in the admission procedure of IITs, “Unless you fill an RTI and get the information, you don't know to what degree the reservation norm is being violated or how many students from which all categories are being selected in various departments. This opacity gives a shield to the IITs and doesn't create public awareness about the violating practice happening on campus. They need to publish details of selected candidates, the number of vacancies each year, department, and category wise on their website. It should also reflect in their advertisements about the seats.”

 

 

The APPSC representative said that another problem is that the admission procedures, number of rounds, cut offs and so on also vary from department to department, making it difficult to raise questions and analyse numbers, “This further helps distribute the blame and evade accountability. There is an absence of a common periodical monitoring of the implementation of reservation policy each semester.”

“After much demand from student organisations and based on the AK Suresh Committee's recommendation, an SC/ST Student Cell was formed in IIT Bombay. This Cell functions as a grievance addressing body, and there is no way it conducts or attempts to do sensitisation on campus, nor does it try to reach out to students so they could approach the Cell in case of need. In our repeated correspondence with the Cell, they haven't given any satisfactory response to our queries, nor have they changed their functioning in any sort. It is the most invisible Cell of the campus. We must understand even this kind of Cell is not there in most of the IITs. What IITs need to do is set up a proper functioning Cell in all its campuses, reachable to students, and conduct programs to better the conscience of students and more so of the faculties. One thing via the curriculum could be done is to introduce a course on caste where students and faculties must attend it once in their stay on campus. It is the BTech and MTech students of various IITs that are potential candidates for the PhD If the campus practices are more democratic and sensitive to caste and other forms of discrimination, more students will apply for the various courses,” he recommends. 

When we reached out to Prof Amitava De, the dean of Academic Programmes, we were told that the Institute is following all the reservation norms, "The institute has followed all the reservation norms in letter and spirit. Only candidates who clear the cut-offs set by each department are admitted to PhD programmes. Over and above the eligibility criteria, candidates are required to qualify through a test and/ or interview. The cut-offs for each birth category is fixed as per the GoI norms. To be eligible for the final admission offer, a candidate must score marks above the set cut-off mark. The admission committee of each academic unit checks and monitors the admission process to check for biases."

How IIT Madras’ ‘happiness course’ helps students cope with stress

Indian Institute of Technology Madras

Pritha Roy Choudhury 

| Dec 1, 2020 - 10:04 a.m. IST


NEW DELHI: In the high-stress and competitive environment of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras, Karan Bhanushali often felt “totally helpless and lost”.

He had grown up in the Mumbai suburbs where his father ran a stationery shop making less than Rs 4 lakh per annum. Always a good student, Bhanushali studied on scholarships throughout. He even won a scholarship to attend private coaching that prepared him to write the highly competitive Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Main and then, the JEE Advanced for admission to engineering in the IITs.

Bhanushali made it to IIT Madras in 2015, on his second attempt at the JEE. But there was a problem. Through counselling, he was able to secure a seat in BTech in biotechnology, a subject he had scant interest in. “I never liked biology during my school days,” he explained. “After coming here too, I was very low. A number of topics were not easy to understand.” He had wanted to study electronics or aerospace engineering and always wondered if he would be able to last long enough to collect his BTech degree.

This period of anxiety and uncertainty continued for three years till an IIT Madras programme came to the rescue.

In 2018, when Bhanushali was in his third year, IIT Madras introduced “happiness classes”, also called “happiness courses”, for students. Open to all students, the elective course was well received from the start. It was the initiative of MS Sivakumar, professor and former dean of students at IIT Madras, and two friends, both alumni of the institute. The objective behind the course was to decrease the stress associated with studying in the IITs and the competition faced at every step.
IITs, stress and happiness

In December 2019, education minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ shared with Parliament startling data about suicides at the IITs. 

Over the previous five years, as many as 50 students had died by suicide at the 12 of the IITs, 14 of them at IIT Guwahati, followed by seven each at IIT Bombay and IIT Madras. Over just October and November 2019, four IIT students took their own lives leading to furious debates online.

“It is tough in the IITs, there is a lot of stress,” said Bhanushali. “About 30 to 40 percent of students undergo depression.”

The happiness course was designed to allow students of any level to enrol. The world’s top universities, including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard University and Stanford University, had already started this kind of programme, said Sivakumar. He added that the course does not follow any spiritual discourse or alternative medicine but is based in science.

The classes were diverse from the start including undergraduates to research scholars and the number of takers has only grown. “In January 2018, we started with 30 students and now we have 150,” said Sivakumar. Till now, 500 students have completed the happiness classes.

“Apart from participating in the classes regularly, students need to complete the daily activities and assignments,” he added. Sivakumar is also coordinating the happiness classes.

Bhanushali joined when he was in the sixth semester of his BTech programme. “Following the meditation and micro meditation techniques regularly, they taught us how to remove negativity from our minds,” said Bhanushali. “I am a different person today.” He even grew to like the course he had so detested and professes “love” for biotechnology now.

Motivating researchers

Undergraduate and postgraduate students can also earn credits on this course and have them transferred to count toward their final grades. However, for research scholars, there is no provision for credit transfer.

Despite that, Meenakshi Jayaraman, pursuing a PhD in developmental genetics, enrolled for it in May 2019. She was in her sixth semester and running low on motivation.

“I joined the course because I thought it would motivate me more in my research,” said Jayaraman. “It's a very good course, it helps us to develop habits which will eventually lead to success and happiness.”

The classes involve building good habits, journaling, jotting down the points to be grateful for and meditating.

Jayaram, who is married, feels the happiness classes helped her balance her personal life and research pursuits as well. Once she completes her PhD, she aims to join a post-doctoral programme.

Bhanushali, no longer shy and reserved, is now an entrepreneur, working in the domain of electric mobility, specifically, electric bikes. He aspires to go abroad for further studies.

IIT Madras plans to encourage research in the subject as well. “The program will be offered as a research subject by the humanities stream,” said Sivakumar.

If you, or anyone you know, needs help, AASRA has a list of resources here: http://www.aasra.info/helpline.html

Also Read:
Mizoram students on why their state is high on a happiness index
Education Minister to share JEE, NEET and board dates in a live session on Dec 3
Write to us at news@careers360.com

Most young suicide victims are mentally ill but not getting the help they desperately need,

Most young suicide victims are mentally ill, but not getting the help they desperately need


Despite significant investment in prevention, the number of youth suicides has not substantially decreased. Photo: Getty

Coronial records have found that most young Australians aged 10 to 24 who die by suicide are either diagnosed with or suffer a likely mental health disorder – but more than two-thirds are not in contact with mental health services at the time of their deaths.

This is the picture drawn from an analysis of national coronial records by research and advocacy group Orygen.

The analysis reveals a disturbing trend from the years 2006 to 2015 that is likely to have since been exacerbated by COVID-19 social control measures.
Concerns that a recession will make matters worse

Despite significant investment in prevention, “the number of youth suicides had not substantially decreased and there were fears rates would increase as Australia heads into recession,” said Associate Professor Jo Robinson, from the Centre For Youth Mental Health at the University of Melbourne, and leader of Orygen’s suicide prevention research.

In a prepared statement Professor Robinson said: “We clearly need to address the role of mental illness in youth suicides in this country. The fact that so many of the young people who have died by suicide had a diagnosed, or probable, mental health problem, and many had sought help for their mental health yet were not in contact with services at the time of their death, is extremely concerning.

“There are tragic consequences for missing obvious opportunities to intervene early to support and treat young people with mental health challenges.”

What the research found

Orygen researchers examined the demographic, social and clinical characteristics of young Australians aged 10 to 24 years who died by suicide between 2006 and 2015, by reviewing data stored in the
National Coronial Information System.

Their analysis was published on Monday in the Medical Journal of
Australia and revealed:

73 per cent of these lost young people experienced mental health difficulties, prior self-harm or substance misuse at the time of their deaths

73.5 per cent of the 3365 young Australians who died by suicide were male. Other research has found that this figures holds true overall for men of all ages

Almost 40 per cent of the young people who died were not engaged in study or work

40 per cent lived in the bottom-most socio-economic disadvantaged areas of Australia.

What’s the solution here?

Lead author of the study, Nicole Hill, said young people who die by suicide “experience multiple demographic, clinical and social risk factors such as a history of mental ill health, past suicidal behaviour, economic disadvantage and a history of adversity”.

Ms Hill said that to date, the key drivers of youth suicide have not been investigated on a nationwide scale.

“This analysis puts mental ill health in the spotlight as a significant target for service reform in youth suicide prevention,” she said,

Ms Hill said suicide was complex and access to services was only part of the solution.

“We also need to be thinking about other ways we can support young people and ways in which they can support themselves and each other,” she said.

This included reaching out to young people in school settings, and identifying “other settings – such as tertiary education, workplaces and online – that would be suitable for suicide prevention activities”.

Even so, it appears suicide prevention researchers are struggling to hit the mark as to where to put their attention.

In January, Professor Jo Robinson co-authored a paper that found: “Despite continuous research over the past 20 years in Australia there is still limited understanding of what works and what does not work in suicide prevention and where to invest research efforts that will help to expand this knowledge base.”

If you or someone you know needs help, call

Emergency on 000 (or 112 from a mobile phone)
Lifeline on 13 11 14
Kids Helpline on 1800 551 800
MensLine Australia on 1300 789 978
Suicide Call Back Service on 1300 659 467
Beyond Blue on 1300 22 46 36
Headspace on 1800 650 890.

IIT Roorkee Professor Calls Student 'Soft' For Not Attending Class Due To Father's Demise, Draws Social Media Wrath https://thelogicalindian.com/trending/iit-roorkee-professor-calls-student-mentally-weak-for-not-attending-class-due-to-fathers-demise-draws-social-media-wrath-25083

IIT Roorkee Professor Calls Student 'Soft' For Not Attending Class Due To Father's Demise, Draws Social Media Wrath 

The video surfaced on social media platforms received massive outrage from netizens, many of them saying that such incidents were responsible for cases of mental illness, suicide among students. 

The Logical Indian Crew Uttarakhand |

 27 Nov 2020 

 Writer : Devyani Madaik | 

Editor : Shubhendu Deshmukh 

| Creatives : Rajath Credits: Twitter, 

The New Indian Express 

Students of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Roorkee decried a professor's deep-seated apathy towards a student, who was unable to attend classes due to his father's demise. During the video/audio call with his students, Professor Patit Paban Kundu from the department of Chemical Engineering referred to the student as 'soft' and 'not at that mental level' after he was not able to attend classes. Stating that the student, Vedant Singh already had less than 50 per cent attendance, Kundu said that he would not excuse the student anymore. Kundu said that he would not provide marks to students with below 75 per cent attendance, as per the rules. 

When the students tried to rationalise Vedant's family problem, along with the dawdling internet connection he had been dealing ever since the online classes have started, Kundu quoted the example of Indian cricketer Mohammed Siraj, who stayed back in Australia and continued the tour with the Indian Cricket Team despite father's demise in India. The cricketer's father passed away on November 20. 

Kundu said that the student did not inform about his father's demise, to which, one of the students said that they were informed by his friend. 

The professor, in an apathetic sound, said that he had no reason to miss the class, given that everyone is studying from home. 

"Death ho gaya hai toh kya, ghar mein hai toh class ni attend karna hai?" Kundu can be heard saying.  

Students time and again reiterated Vedant's situation and said that he might take time to recover from the loss he has incurred. Kundu said the student was taking his class for granted, and he will not provide him with marks. The professor, when informed by the students that the Institute Academic Programme Committee (IAPC) of the institution has decided that marks for the attendance will not be counted for the ongoing session in view of the COVID-19 pandemic, Kundu said that the IAPC could not 'dictate' him to teach. 

The video/audio recording surfaced on social media platforms received massive outrage from netizens, many of them saying that such incidents were responsible for cases of mental illness, suicide among students. 

One of the former students said such kind of problem existed with many more professors of the institution. Kundu later wrote a mail saying he never intended any wrong. 

"On my personal account, I can tell that after the expiry of my father I had to go to South Korea and I had gone there. Maybe you are still not at that mental level, and you are soft. That's the reason you have done all these wrong things which are creating a bad name for our institute." 

He said the students could have approached him in person or mailed him about the same, rather than posting the video on social media. 

"Instead of doing all these, you could have simply mailed me after the class to apologize to Vedanta for not showing apathy (I have shown it; that is even evident when I told all students will be allowed to sit for the exam; the additional comment was that he has to pass the exam)." 

He further stated that in his 24 years of a teaching career, he had worked hard on helping students from failing, and this was one of the attempts. 

"It seems that all of you misjudged me (consult your senior again to judge me). I believe in duty, whatever the consequences are. That's why I was taking the example of Siraj (the cricketer)," his mail read. 

Kundu 'requested' the students to upload another video starting that he has tendered an 'Unconditional Apology' to all the students, also stating that they had misjudged him. 

Highlighting the sentence, he instructed the students that they must mention that they have no issue with the professor. His resume on the official website of the institution describes his illustrious career. He has worked in various institutions including the University of Calcutta, filed 148 research papers, handled essential projects of central government along with many others. 

Responding to the queries related to the matter, the institute told The Logical Indian that the Students' representative had been asked to submit a report on the incident and assured of looking into the incident. The media tried to reach out to Prof Kundu for his say on the matter but received no response.

https://thelogicalindian.com/trending/iit-roorkee-professor-calls-student-mentally-weak-for-not-attending-class-due-to-fathers-demise-draws-social-media-wrath-25083

PS: The Registrar of IIT Madras a Mr Sethuraman, did the same thing to me in July 1966 when I lost my father. The family had lost its bread winner and my mother wanted me to quit IIT and find a job. I did not attend Lectures for two full months and had missed one set of surprise periodicals or Tests in every subject. Then I received this Callous Phone Call from the registrar. we did not have a phone as we were too poor and the call came to my neighbours house. There was this Callous Voice of the Registrar that told me, Everyone's father has to die sometime. If you do not attend classes from Monday I am afraid you will not have the 70% attendance that is mandatory to sit for the final exam and I will not allow you to sit for the final exam. Obviously some of these men never bonded with their fathers to appreciate how devastating it can be to lose a parent. Not all men with PHDs are good teachers or Good men. 

PhDs who become Faculty need to be trained to become Professional Teachers with empathy and better understanding of students needs and situations and this will reduce the number of suicides in IIT's

Ram 

PS:" This is my personal Opinion

 

MBBS beyond reach of meritorious poor

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

By PUBLIC On Nov 17, 2020

Editor,

Amidst huge protests with meaningful suggestions by our students who aspire to become doctors, to postpone the NEET until COVID-19 subsides, the authorities backed by the Supreme Court paid a deaf ear to those pleas. One month of TV discussion taught me one doctrine. I now know why our students are in a state of utter desperation and helplessness. When three girls from Tamil Nadu took the extreme step to die of suicide then the picture became clearer. All three who died of suicide were the one or two failures, some even managed to be wait-listed. The story of a boy who also took his own life was more pathetic. Last year he could manage to clear entrance and was invited to one college. But the fees charged were too much for the father who is just a poor farmer. Scrutinising the case further all students all over India who excelled in their studies in NCERT schools be it CBSE or ICSE or State Boards had to study voluminous bazaar notes and the majority of these poor meritorious students concentrated 60% in Biology, 25% in Chemistry and only 15% in Physics. Worst these bazaar notes are very expensive very heavy in weight. So all those valuable years of studying beautifully compiled textbooks by 16 renowned professors of JNU, IIT’S and PGT’S proved to be in vain as no questions were ever set from those books.

What prompted the then government of 2012, the UPA to do away with the good practice of our states taking the help of their State Directorates of Health Service to select the best in Physics, Chemistry and Biology from ICSE and CBSE Boards and send them to the medical colleges in order of merit is not known. What we know is the NEET coaching centres are flourishing like mushrooms and till date the NEET coaching centres have become the most flourishing industry in the country. After Class X Science results, the best rich students would be pulled in and two years of heavy coaching to attack weird problems never found in any NCERT textbooks. This would produce results which­­ then advertise the coaching centres fighting for supremacy.

It appears that the paper setters, moderators evaluators are from these centres. Why I say this is because in the last 2020 NEET paper in Physics, there were five very wrong questions and surprisingly one boy scored 100% in P.C.B. Two wrongs cannot make a right. Objective questions very hidden in nature with silly choice of (1), (2), (3), (4) predominate. Except two questions on the Guitar and Photo- electricity which deserve praise as being conceptual, the rest are simply memorisation of formulae, hundreds of them followed by lengthy arithmetic of Class VII standard of division and multiplication. These take the students to more than ninety seconds, 30 seconds more than time allotted. Worst is that it appears that the paper setter does not follow the 2019 – 2020 NCERT curriculum which had undergone some change. Transistor and Logic Gates were omitted as per order. But these topics were set. So for our poor who have no money to be attend coaching classes, is this a fair deal? Is there any justice in it?

Tamil Nadu which had since 2012 opposed NEET is now repentant following the 3 suicides before examination, to resort to the old method of selection. I do pray our Education Department emulates the state of Tamil Nadu. The present 2020 NEET qualifier assisted by SC concessions are two or three time repeaters. So unless we act, NEET is going to be the National Elimination Test of the “meritorious poor” who cannot afford to be extra heavily coached as the rich do with NEET coaching. Hence the meritorious poor will no longer become doctors. Isn’t this nepotism of the highest order?

Yours etc.,

Manbha Diengdoh,

Via email

Fathima Latheef: Public memory versus memory of the margin

Fathima Latheef: Public memory versus memory of the margin
November 10, 2020

By Raniya Zulaikha, TwoCircles.net

Memory is often a construct. There are many factors influencing the popular memory such as movies, newspapers, books and so on. One best example of such a construct is around the imageries of B.R. Ambedkar and M.K. Gandhi. 

Gandhian stories, his contribution to independence struggle as well as his death remain part of legendary history. While Ambedkar is mostly celebrated as a mere constitutionalist, but Ambedkar as an intellectual, wonderful mind and the one who questioned caste from the very foundations is never known, celebrated or is under a veil. 

Power structures, more precisely Brahmanical forces try hard to obscure the visibility of Ambedkar in order to prevent the so-called turbulence in the public sphere.

Fathima Latheef, a student of IIT Madras, from the very moment of her martyrdom has been veiled or her visibility being denied. An institutional killing has been merely narrowed down to a case of suicide due to academic pressure. Fathima with her brilliant academic records had questioned the same simple narratives. Why is the cause of death obscured? Why couldn’t a country erupt to a massive protest? If it is not Islamophobia, then what is it?

This question strangles my mind as a student for the past one year. Fathima is still out of popular memory after a few moments of death. In other words, she is somewhere in the Brahmanical archives of killings of Muslim bodies. Being in a predominantly Brahmanical academic space with the brilliance was the first mistake every Muslim like Fathima could commit and Brahmanism will take away your life and erase you out of the memory. This act of omission limits our deaths into the realm of sacredness.

Fathima left a note to this world, where she clearly mentions the name of a professor and the problems of her existence being a Muslim girl and discrimination against her Muslim body. Her note could not find a value beyond the procedurals of a suicide note. The potential questions raised throughout her living experiences were erased in the very first moment. Many define it as her academic inability to withstand the pressure. It was by any means the second brutal killing in the public sphere after Rohith Vemula in the recent past. Oh! What else could you expect from Brahmanical state or nation?

Fathima’s death raises the question of justice. How minorities in the country are being treated in higher institutions. Therefore, the fight for Fathima and Rohith and many to count, who are no longer here, are a struggle for all of us. While the authorities are trying hard to erase these Bahujan lives from the memories, they are unable to do so because of the suicide notes left by them. It is a delusion that the subject can be reduced to arguments that suicide is caused by stress and a lack of social interaction.

There were even those who fabricated stories around the date of “November 8th” chosen to commit suicide. The underlying strategy was to portray suicides as a phenomenon created by a virtual conflict and bring the burden of death to themselves. But their suicide notes are able to compose something stronger than such narratives. Thousands of people vow to become another Fathima and Rohith every time they return to their last words.

Whatever the mainstream narrative, there shall be a day when Fathima will erupt as a thunderstorm on the Brahminic public sphere. Her note shall be raised as the foundation to jeopardize many similar narratives. A memory of margin deeply rooted with injustice against the discriminated minority of the nation before and after the death. The memory gives plenty of potential threat to the very foundations of Brahmanical public sphere. The memory shall erupt as rupture.

Fathima, our sincere prayers are for you, that you lived in the margins as a hero. You are one of the few who lives among us through death.

Raniya Zulaikha is a student of Political Science at Ramjas College, DU

Recent Suicide By LSR Student Opens The Conversation On Student Distress All Across The Nation,

Recent Suicide By LSR Student Opens The Conversation On Student Distress All Across The Nation

FEATUREDINDIA
By Pallavi Kapoor 

On Nov 10, 2020 

India, a nation that sought to be a ‘superpower’ by the year 2020, has failed yet another section of its population. Students, Researchers, and Scholars across the nation are struggling at the hands of a widening digital divide, an economic crisis, and to top it all, they are being denied their fellowships for months on end. Recently, a Telangana based college student from Lady Shri Ram College, Delhi University, was forced to take her life after being denied her scholarship funds for over a year.

Source – The Indian Express

The Department of Science and Technology awarded her the ‘INSPIRE’ scholarship after topping at her school. However, due to a crippling digital divide and the mounting financial inadequacies amidst the pandemic, she was rendered hopeless.

Source – The week

“The students’ union had surveyed the students to understand the impact of the digital divide. We found that she had no laptop, and it was difficult for her to attend the classes. The online classes cost her dearly for getting the data packs,” Unnimaya, General Secretary of Lady Shriram Ram College Students’ Union, and her friend had said in a statement.

It was later discovered that she was paying over 1 lakh rupees on her education. To add to her problems, she was asked to vacate her hostel due to the coronavirus pandemic, while transferring was not affordable.

UGC- JRF release and the untold stories

The suicide of the student has since triggered much controversy while throwing light on the crippling condition of quality education in India. Another campaign that has failed to make headlines but is equally significant is the #ReleaseUGCJRF campaign. Researchers entitled to their UGC JRF release have been denied their funds for several months now.

While UGC, the body responsible for the stipend’s discourse, has allegedly always been irregular, the situation worsened since the advent of the coronavirus pandemic. Junior Research Fellows have actively been writing letters and emails to get in touch with the concerned authorities but to no effect.

“UGC is the funding body for PUR monthly stipend. UGC has always been irregular in the disbursement of fellowship amount, but now the issue has touched another level altogether. They have not released PUR stipends since July 2020. Scholars from across the country have tried to reach UGC officials and various ministries associated with it via emails and phone calls, and we have not received any concrete responses yet,” A Ph.D. student from IIT Delhi who has not received her stipend since July said in a statement.

This is the case with several other fellows who are now struggling to make ends meet due to the pandemic. As a result, their reliance on their family members is spiraling.

“Since this pandemic started, they haven’t got any fellowships from any agents like UGC and CSIR. Students are asking their family members for money to pay for hostel mess fees, institution course fees, etc.,” a Ph.D. scholar from IIT Bhubaneswar cited.

“Due to this, at such ages as 24-25 years old, Ph.D. scholars are financially dependent upon families. This tends to depression, which leads to suicide,” he added.

These students have come forward with everything in their power to get access to something they are entitled to have. From signing petitions to mailing in groups to digital protests, but their voices have gone unheard.

Delays and Demands

The delay in the release has also disrupted the research work of such scholars.

“This delay in releasing the fellowship amount is causing financial distress among us, and our research is suffering. I mean, who can think of research when they don’t have money to survive, especially during this difficult pandemic situation,” the researcher from IIT Delhi had said in a statement. On being asked about her demands, she emphasized the uncompromising need to release the JRF stipend with immediate effect.

“Placing a proper mechanism for timely disbursement of the fellowship and total transparency of the procedure” were among her other demands.

Another scholar pursuing his Ph.D. from IIT Delhi was greatly “disappointed” by the magnitude of problems he has been introduced to after having strived enough to get into eminent institutions such as the IIT Delhi. Due to the ongoing challenges, he informed Sambad that he has decided to resign from his current program to continue his research in the states hoping that it will be just.

A Ray of Hope

Without surprise, the UGC has been slapped awake by the LSR student suicide case. According to the latest updates, the University grants commission (UGC) on Monday declared that the pending fellowships for Junior Research Fellows (JRF) and Senior Research Fellows (SRF) would be released within a week.

In-charge of the INSPIRE Programme, Dr. Sanjay Mishra blamed the delay on “financial and technical” constraints during the pandemic.

Whether or not every student gets what they deserve, stories such as these make us question the legitimacy of our “developing” nation.

Neither is suicide a crime, nor can one be driven to it

Neither is suicide a crime, nor can one be driven to it

November 8, 2020, 6:35 AM IST 

SA Aiyar in Swaminomics | India, politics | TOI

Shashi Tharoor, Rhea Chakraborty and now Arnab Goswami. The social and electronic media are baying for their blood, accusing them of driving somebody — wife, lover, and creditor respectively — to suicide. As argued in earlier columns, this is moral and logical nonsense.

Historically, suicide has been a crime in almost all countries. Wikipedia lists hundreds of famous persons globally who died of suicide in the 21st century. Recent examples include actor Robin Williams, financier Jeff Epstein and chef Anthony Bourdain. The reason is almost always mental stress for some reason.

Since suicide is a crime, so is abetment to suicide. The word “abet” means “assist.” If a doctor assists a patient’s suicide, that is abetment. But in India hardly anybody is arrested for that. Rather, the police and courts interpret “abetment to suicide” to mean “driving to suicide”. I know of no other country where this happens. In none of the famous suicides globally have lovers or creditors been accused of abetting suicide.

I personally know many people — including my younger brother Mukundan and others in school and college — who died of suicide. They were tormented by life’s challenges and unfairness, fought with inner demons, and succumbed to stress that others could cope with. They were victims, not criminals. Many state governments give compensation to the families of farmers who commit suicide (as highlighted in the film Peepli Live). So, why don’t they decriminalise suicide?

“Driving to suicide” is a commonplace phrase but lacking in medical rigour or legal soundness. Thousands of students die of suicide every year after bad exam results. Should parents (who put pressure on their children) and teachers (who set exam papers) be accused of driving the students to suicide?

Many debtors who cannot repay bank loans kill themselves. Should all bankers who lent them money be jailed for driving them to suicide? If so, why should bankers risk lending money at all?

Every year, court judgments inflict terrible blows on those who lose, and some resort to suicide. A prominent recent example was Kalikho Phul, former chief minister of Arunachal Pradesh. He was ousted by the Supreme Court for coming to power through illegal political manipulation. Deeply humiliated, he resorted to suicide. Should the Supreme Court be prosecuted for driving him to suicide? No, that would be nonsense in all the examples discussed above.

My earlier columns have repeatedly pointed out that the suicide rate in India, and indeed globally, is around 11 per lakh people, or 0.01%. This can rise tenfold to 0.1% in great stress-causing disasters, but even so 99.9% of people remain suicide-proof. The rate is the same in rich USA and poor India. India’s suicide rate in highest in Puducherry and Kerala, but low in Bihar and UP, not because harassment and deprivation are greater in the south, but because cultural attitudes to suicide and mental stress are different. A study by Anuradha Bose in The Lancet found that the suicide rate among Tamil girls aged 15-19 years was 146/lakh — ten times the global average.

Through history, millions died in droughts and epidemics. Even so 99.9% did not commit suicide, since the desire to live overwhelmed the worst deprivations for all but a tiny suicide-prone minority. Millions preferred to die horribly rather than kill themselves in the Bengal famine or genocides of Hitler and Stalin. They had far more cause to resort to suicide than Sushant Singh Rajput or the creditors of Arnab Goswami but did not.

Overwhelmingly, unfortunates kill themselves because they belong to the 0.01% that are suicide prone. They cannot stand the stress of quarrels with spouses and relatives, unfair treatment, or failures in love, business, and exams. They are victims of mental ill-health. India’s recent Mental Health Care Act does not formally decriminalise suicide. But it says those attempting suicide will be presumed to be victims of mental ill-health, and hence protected from criminal prosecution. That is a welcome step. However, if suicide is in effect presumed to be legal, how can abetment to such a legal act be prosecuted as illegal, as the police are doing in the cases of Tharoor and Goswami? In both cases, the main reason for prosecution appears to be political vendetta. My liberal friends say Goswami constantly incites communal hate in his TV show, and was relentless in his campaigns against Tharoor and Chakraborty. If so, let him be prosecuted for inciting hate, not the trumped-up charge of abetting suicide.

In sum, suicide is not a crime, and you cannot be driven to it. The Supreme Court needs to proclaim that the notion of driving people to suicide is medically and logically ill-founded, and anyway must not be confused with abetment.

DISCLAIMER : Views expressed above are the author's own.

No progress in CBI probe into Fathima’s death, say parents - The Hindu

KERALA

No progress in CBI probe into Fathima’s death, say parents

STAFF REPORTER
KOLLAM, NOVEMBER 08, 2020 19:22 IST

Say CBI officials had called them a couple of times, but yet to take statement

Despite the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) taking over the probe, there has been no progress in the case related to the death of Fathima Latheef, a 19-year-old student who was found dead in her hostel room at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras, her parents have alleged.

The Klappana resident, a very bright student and a rank-holder, was a first-year student of Humanities when she reportedly ended her life on November 9, 2019. Her family had filed a complaint after retrieving a note from her phone, according to which she was facing harassment from some faculty members, forcing her to take the extreme step. She had joined IIT in July 2019 and was the class topper when she died. “CBI officials had called us a couple of times during the last months, but they are yet to take our statement. I have sent a mail to the CBI director sharing our grievances and I want to believe that my daughter will get justice,” said Latheef, Fathima’s father.

The case was transferred to the CBI when her family and a delegation of MPs visited Union Home Minister Amit Shah and handed over a memorandum signed by 41 MPs seeking a fair probe.

Her family had raised several allegations after the death as the screensaver of her phone and notes saved in it had named the persons responsible for her death. But with the Kotturpuram police insisting that they could not find any suicide note, her father had alleged that Tamil Nadu police was trying to botch up the investigation.

Initial assumption

The initial assumption of the police was that Fathima committed suicide since she could not score good marks in the first semester examination. But according to her family, she had scored the highest marks in her class even in her last examination. They had also alleged that IIT authorities had prevented other students from talking to Fathima’s family and suspended the classes of her batch immediately after the incident.

Meanwhile, Kollam MP N.K. Premachandran has written to the Union Home Minister demanding a time-bound investigation. “The probe should be expedited as there is no breakthrough even one year after Fathima’s death. The CBI authorities also failed to respond to her father’s appeals and immediate steps should be taken to complete the probe,” he said.

Mr. Premachandran also observed that the mysterious deaths of students at IITs were a matter of major concern. “The reason for the increasing number of such incidents is the failure in finding and punishing the culprits,” he said.

SC imposes Rs 10K cost on lawyer over PIL on IIT suicides, terms it ‘frivolous’

SC imposes Rs 10K cost on lawyer over PIL on IIT suicides, terms it ‘frivolous’

SC imposed Rs 10,000 cost on a petitioner who filed PIL seeking direction to the Centre and IITs to formulate and implement a programme to address the menace of rising suicide cases on their campuses

Supreme Court of India


IANSPublished: 24 Sep 2020, 4:30 PM

Terming it "frivolous", the Supreme Court on Thursday imposed Rs 10,000 cost on a petitioner who filed a PIL seeking direction to the Centre and IITs to formulate and implement a programme to address the menace of rising suicide cases on their campuses.

A bench comprising Justices R.F. Nariman, Navin Sinha and Indira Banerjee said this is an utterly frivolous petition and asked the petitioner-in-person Gaurav Kumar Bansal: "How much cost should we impose on you?"

The bench noted that the Centre is well aware of the situation and dismissed the plea raising the issues of suicides on IIT campuses across the country.

During a brief hearing on the matter, Bansal argued that nearly 50 students have died by suicide in the IITs in the last five years. He urged the top court to intervene in the matter and also directed the Education Ministry and the IITs to formulate and implement a "student wellness programme" but the bench said it is not inclined to entertain the plea.

The lawyer submitted that a committee was earlier formed to probe into the causes behind suicide by students, and insisted that the situation remains the same.

Citing the Centre's response on the matter, the court told the petitioner that authorities were alive to the matter.

"We are dismissing it with Rs 10,000 as cost payable to the legal services authority," said the bench.

The plea had urged the apex court to direct all IITs to immediately plan, design, formulate and effectively implement a student health wellness programme. And, this programme should focus on prevention and reduction of suicides within the institutes, the plea sought.

Suicide is a bigger concern than murder,

Suicide is a bigger concern than murder
Prasoon Joshi on Sushant Singh Rajput’s case: 

Prasoon Joshi states during his interview that suicide is a disease, that also points towards the fact that someone is not able to cope and that something is not right in the Bollywood industry.

Written By Pinkvilla Desk 535239 reads Mumbai Updated: October 4, 2020 06:54 pm

Prasoon Joshi on Sushant Singh Rajput’s case: Suicide is a bigger concern than murder



Trigger Warning

The CBFC Chairman Prasoon Joshi spoke to Times Now for an interview. The ace screenwriter and poet states that it is very crucial to have concern. He further goes on to add that suicide is a bigger concern than murder. Prasoon Joshi states that how in a case of murder one has a culprit who the authorities will punish. But, CBFC Chairman states during his interview that suicide is a disease which brings to light how someone is not able to cope and how something is not right in the industry along with a feeling of insecurity among the people of the Bollywood industry.

He also states that previously he campaigned against suicides in the country. During the interview, the CBFC Chairman Prasoon Joshi was quizzed how the film industry got divided among people who supported Rhea Chakraborty and those who backed the late actor Sushant Singh Rajput. The NCB has arrested actress Rhea Chakraborty is Sushant's case. Prasoon Joshi also says that it is not just about producing blockbuster hits in the industry but also about the well being of its people. Prasoon Joshi was also quizzed about the drugs probe in Bollywood and questioned how it could be vendetta.

Prasoon Joshi says that the real issues get sidelined. He adds that if someone does not like his tone and manner of speaking nobody will pay attention to what he is saying. Prasoon Joshi says that where is the concept of having a dialogue with the people gone. Prasoon Joshi also mentions that instead of blaming each other, we must table the correct issues.

If you need support or know someone who is struggling, please reach out to your nearest mental health specialist or speak to someone about it. There are several helplines available for the same.

(ALSO READ: Kangana Ranaut is telling her truth, shouldn't be trivialised says CBFC Chairman Prasoon Joshi amid drug probe)

At least 36 people kill themselves in Tamil Nadu every day, shows NCRB data

At least 36 people kill themselves in Tamil Nadu every day, shows NCRB data


According to the data, 50 percent of suicides in the state are related to family problems followed by illness which accounts for 18 percent of suicides

Published: 03rd October 2020 07:14 PM |

A total of 13,493 people killed themselves in 2019 in Tamil Nadu, giving it a 9.7% share (Express Illustrations)
By Sahaya Novinston Lobo
Express News Service

CHENNAI: For the fourth consecutive year, Tamil Nadu holds the second place in the number of suicides in the country, according to the National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB), with at least 36 people taking the extreme decision every day in the state.

A total of 13,493 people killed themselves in 2019 in Tamil Nadu, giving it a 9.7% share. Topping the list is Maharashtra with 18,916 and in third place is West Bengal with 12,665.

In October last year, seven from a same family killed themselves in Avadi and a month later, Fathima Latheef, a young college student from IIT-Madras, killed herself allegedly due to discrimination from the faculty. In the month of February, a 26-year-old Armed Reserve constable shot himself dead while on duty.

Tamil Nadu ranks first in family suicides in the country, with 43 people having died in 16 different cases. Similarly, over 914 students have taken the extreme decision in the state making it third in student suicides. Tamil Nadu also ranks first in suicides by government staff with 200 people in 2019.

According to NCRB data, 50 percent of suicides in the state are related to family problems followed by illness which accounts for 18 percent of suicides.

The data also mentions that girls below the age of 18 are vulnerable and kill themselves more than boys, while more men between the age of 30-45 take the extreme decision.

In the state, Chennai has more suicides with 2461 cases, followed by Madurai (345), Coimbatore (338) and Tiruchirapalli (188).

(Assistance for those having suicidal thoughts is available on Tamil Nadu’s health helpline 104 and Sneha’s suicide prevention helpline 044-24640050)

People must learn to read early signs showing suicidal tendency or turn to experts - National Herald

People must learn to read early signs showing suicidal tendency or turn to experts

Suffering in silence is not heroic. But both individuals and families opt to keep quiet about a debilitating disease, a psychological disorder that seem to drive people to commit suicide

Dr Amita Puri

Published: 20 Sep 2020, 1:00 PM

It is hard to tell why some people end their lives while others in similar positions don’t. But the fact is that the world is witnessing an alarming rise in suicides, especially after the pandemic-induced lockdown. And the stigma is such that very few even now are coming out in the open and consulting professional counsellors and psychologists.

Suffering in silence is not heroic. But both individuals and families opt to keep quiet about a debilitating disease, a psychological disorder, frayed nerves and despair that seem to drive people to commit suicide. If families, friends and neighbours cannot do the counselling, the professionals must.

Persistent depression and feeling low, feelings of guilt and hopelessness, anxiety and panic attacks are some of the early signs that point to suicidal inclinations. There are days when things look really bleak. Setbacks in career and exams or relationships do make life look like a drudgery. But none of this should spell the end of the road.

“I wish I were dead. I am unable to think properly. God, I need to control my sarcasm. I have a crushing feeling of inferiority… it seems like a mountain now, a mountain which I cannot climb,” blurts out Sahil (34), an IT professional. Prevailing uncertainties caused by the pandemic, pressure at the workplace and his wife threatening to sue for divorce have driven him up the wall.

Dev is a teenager. A gangly 18-year old boy, he has been suffering from depression since before the lockdown. “I need to face things that medicines will not fix. Am I just a whining brat? I constantly feel guilty for being unable to change.” He had contemplated committing suicide but couldn’t bring himself to do it. “I am a pathetic coward. I don’t know if I will ever become strong enough…” he wails.

Sameera’s is also a familiar story. An IIT aspirant because of parental pressure, she failed to clear the JEE. “Why didn’t I kill myself ? Why did I choose to live? My interests are dead. My motivation is dead. My imagination is dead. I am dead on the inside. And I feel like I am wasting your time because nobody can help me.”

The good news is that all three ‘cases’ benefitted from counselling and therapy and are recovering.

(The author is a Clinical Psychologist and Director, Optimus Center of Well Being, Gurgaon)

Legal Gallery: Supreme Court notice to UPSC, Centre on postponement of exams

By PTI

This seven hours long Offline exam, will be taken by approximately six lakh aspirants at test centres in 72 cities across the country

New Delhi: The SC Thursday sought response from the Centre and the Union Public Service Commission on a plea seeking postponement of civil services 2020 examinations in view of alarming spurt of COVID-19 and floods.

A bench of Justices AM Khanwilkar and Sanjiv Khanna issued notices to UPSC, Centre and posted the matter for hearing on September 28, 2020. The petitioners have sought postponement of the Civil Services Exam for two to three months, so that the flood/incessant rains go away and COVID-19 curve flattens.

The plea, filed by Vasireddy Govardhana Sai Prakash and others, submitted that the decision of UPSC to conduct the exam in accordance with the Revised Calendar, violates the rights of the petitioners and those similarly situated, under Article 19 (1) (g) of the Constitution to practice their chosen profession/occupation of serving the public.

The plea has been filed by 20 UPSC aspirants through advocate Alakh Alok Srivastava against conducting of the Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination on October 4. According to the plea, this seven hours long Offline exam, will be taken by approximately six lakh aspirants at test centres in 72 cities across the country.

"Conducting the aforesaid examination across India at such perilous time, is nothing else but putting lives of lakhs of young students (including Petitioners herein) at utmost risk and danger of disease and death. Also, the natural calamities like flood, incessant rain, landslides etc. are likely to directly affect the life and health of the Petitioners and many similarly situated students. "Hence, the impugned Revised Calendar is utterly arbitrary, unreasonable, whimsical and patently violative of the "Right to Health" and "Right to Life" of the Petitioners herein and lakhs of similarly situated students, under Article 21," the petition stated.

The plea said the Civil Services Exam, being a recruitment examination, is altogether different from an academic examination and in the event of its postponement, there would not be any question of delay or loss of any academic session.

It said that due to non-availability of exam centres in their hometowns, many aspirants are facing "unimaginable" hardship due to non-availability of or unsafe health conditions in, the PG accommodation/ hostels/ hotels etc., where they are forced to stay with their family members, once they are travelling to an outstation Examination Centre. "It is pertinent to mention here that despite alarming spurt in COVID-19 pandemic, UPSC did not increase the number of Examination Centres, resulting into a situation where many candidates from rural areas will be forced to travel for around 300-400 Kilometres, in order to reach to their Examination Centres and there will be high probability of such aspirants, getting affected while using public transportation for such travel," the plea said.

Quick look

SC dumps PIL on suicides in IITs: The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed with cost a PIL on prevention of suicides in the various Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) across the country. A Bench headed by Justice Rohinton F Nariman dismissed the plea terming it "utterly frivolous" and imposed a cost of Rs 10,000.

SC calls plea seeking intervention of court in IIT students suicides 'frivolous', imposes 10k cost on petitioner

SC calls plea seeking intervention of court in IIT students suicides 'frivolous', imposes 10k cost on petitioner

During the hearing, Bansal submitted that in the last five years, about 50 students have died by suicide. The plea sought the court's intervention and sought a direction to direct the Centre

Edex Live
Edex Live




Representative Image

The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed with cost a PIL on prevention of suicides in the various Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) across the country. A Bench headed by Justice Rohinton F Nariman dismissed the plea terming it "utterly frivolous" and imposed a cost of Rs 10,000. The Bench said authorities, as evident from the petition, are alive to the situation. "The PIL is utterly frivolous and dismissed with cost of Rs 10,000," it ordered.

The PIL filed by advocate Gaurav Kumar Bansal has said that there was increasing number of suicides in IITs and sought the implementation of Section 29 of the Mental Healthcare Act. As per Section 29, Section 30 and Section 115 of Mental Healthcare Act, 2017, it is the fundamental duty of government and IITs to probe the cause of the rise of suicides in IITs campus and to plan, formulate and implement student health wellness programs in such a manner that the same shall reduce and prevent the suicide cases within their jurisdiction, the plea said.

During the hearing, Bansal submitted that in the last five years, about 50 students have died by suicide. The plea sought the court's intervention and sought a direction to direct the Centre, AIIMS and IITs to formulate and implement the "students wellness program". "Formulate and effectively implement student health wellness program focusing on prevention and reduction of suicides within their institutions as provided under Section 29 and Section 115 of the Mental Healthcare Act - 2017. Direct government, AIIMS, and IITs for providing aid, support, and advice to persons with suicidal thoughts through Call Centers / Helplines at Institute level," the plea said. The data gathered by the petitioner through RTI and through other means clearly shows that respondents have failed to consider the issue of rise in suicides in IITs and AIIMS-Delhi through health prospects, it added.

Why 'Politicising' NEET Isn't the Problem We Should Be Focused on - The Wire

Why 'Politicising' NEET Isn't the Problem We Should Be Focused on

Protests from Tamil Nadu on the medical entrance exam have a lot to teach us about how governance should work.

A NEET centre in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Photo: PTI

Yazhini P.M.

EDUCATIONGOVERNMENTHEALTH

8 HOURS AGO

“I am sorry, I am tired.” These are words from the suicide note written by M. Jothisri Durga, a 19-year-old NEET aspirant from Madurai who died on September 12 2020, for whom this NEET exam would have been the second attempt.

The same day also saw two other deaths by suicide – 20-year-old M. Adithya from Dharmapuri and 21-year-old M. Mothilal from Thiruchengode, both of whom were to attempt the NEET for the third time. On September 9, 2020, V. Vignesh, another 19-year-old aspirant from Ariyalur ended his life by jumping into a well. He too was set to attempt the NEET for the third time.

Going by the words of the Tamil Nadu chief minister, as of September 15, 2020, 13 students have taken their lives due to NEET exams. Further, on September 12, 2020, DMK chief and leader of opposition in Tamil Nadu, M.K. Stalin promised to abolish the NEET and revert to using higher secondary exam marks for admissions to medical colleges in Tamil Nadu. He also said that a suitable redressal would be effectuated for those aggrieved.

These promises were in line with all other regional parties and regional outfits of national parties, thereby signposting the essence of the Dravidian movement in the state of Tamil Nadu which sought to lower the entry barrier for students to enter professional courses through various mechanisms, including rationalising the reservation system, providing extra marks for first generation graduates, instituting quotas for rural candidates and the recent move by the present government to institute 7.5% seats for students from government schools.

While the focus of sustained anti-NEET protests centred in Tamil Nadu, an outcome of the suicide of S. Anitha, a NEET aspirant from Ariyalur who had scored 1,176 out of 1,200 in the state board’s higher secondary examination but failed the NEET, gives a perception that student suicides linked to NEET is endemic to Tamil Nadu. The phenomenon is rather pan-India, with numerous suicides every year happening in the coaching hubs for NEET and JEE like Kota in Rajasthan, Telangana, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh.

The deaths reported as student suicides in Kota, for example, are 16 cases in 2015, 17 cases in 2016, seven cases in 2017 and 19 cases in 2018. The situation is far more serious in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, where in the year 2017, nearly 50 deaths were reported in the span of two months. While scores of deaths in these states doesn’t seem to evoke broad-based protests, Tamil Nadu reacts differently.

Also read: Exams and the Pandemic: Who Is Afraid of ‘Losing a Year’ of Education?

Conventional logic informs us that competitive exams revolve around the coaching class ecosystem which have grown around JEE and NEET. The high costs imposed on aspirants in turn skews their composition in terms of class, caste and gender. The question of representativeness of the successful aspirants is a cause of concern and strikes at the heart of the politics of aspiration and social justice prevalent in Tamil Nadu, especially given the lack of empirical evidence that this policy needed to replace the existing framework.

Tamil Nadu saw branches of every key coaching institute opening shop in major cities in the wake of the compulsory implementation of NEET in 2016, when the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre passed the Indian Medical Council (Amendment) Bill. Prior to 2016, although NEET was in existence, freedom was provided for the states to opt out. Tamil Nadu had opted out.

The economics of NEET and the Kota system of dummy schools

The economics of NEET coaching classes is staggering, with the cost to a student in Kota, for example, amounting to at least Rs 5 lakh for higher secondary education and entrance coaching classes. The excessive focus on the entrance examinations is afforded at the cost of neglecting school education, through a system called ‘dummy school’, a disturbing outcome of the Kota system.

This enables an aspirant to register nominally in a school paying full fees wherein the attendance is taken care of, while they slog in the coaching institutes. The nexus between the coaching class institutes and the dummy schools is an open secret. With the mushrooming of coaching class institutes across India, the Kota system of ‘dummy schools’ is making its way into states like Punjab and Andhra Pradesh. The curious case of NEET 2018 topper Kalpana Kumari throws light on this dynamic – she prepared for NEET from Aakash Institute in Delhi as a regular student while having registered as a student of YKJM College at Sheohar, Bihar.

In addition to the financial burden on the aspirant, the increasing number of repeaters in the entrance examination system also decreases the possibility of first-time aspirants clearing the examination. Added to this is the toxic combination of high expectations from the family, peer pressure and pressure tactics from coaching centres. The students from socially and educationally disadvantaged groups – the OBC, SC and ST – face the added problem of the lack of role models, as many a times they are first generation higher education aspirants. In fact, it is the anticipated high cost of entry to coaching classes which self selects the class and in turn the caste and gender of the aspirants.

Lessons from the past

The reasons identified by Dr M. Anandhakrishnan, who headed the committee that led to the abolition of Common Entrance Test in Tamil Nadu in 2006, are worth problematising. In addition to the CET, Tamil Nadu had a system called improvement examination, which was introduced with the intention of helping genuine cases in which students fail to score good marks in their first attempt.

CET and improvement exams exacerbating the urban-rural divide and their sharp bias in favour of students who could afford the time and money were identified and cited as reasons to abolish the same in order to provide a level playing field. This move has to be seen from the perspective of the recent move by the University of California’s decision to stop requiring standardised tests (SAT and ACT) on the grounds that these tests are inherently biased in favour of affluent, White and Asian-American students.

Also read: NEET and Suriya: Freedom To Demur Is Not Contempt

Examples from IITs reveal the systemic issues surrounding the selection mechanism wherein women formed only 8% of the total students enrolled in IITs for the year 2016. OBC representations in IITs improved only after the implementation of constitutionally mandated 27% reservation for OBCs.

Resistance from Tamil Nadu

With the rationale for anti-NEET protests based in Tamil Nadu resting on the worldwide phenomenon of moving away from standardised tests which have high entry barriers, there is a certain unanimity among parties in Tamil Nadu with the exception of BJP and Puthiya Thamizhagam against NEET. Incidentally, questions are now raised regarding who is responsible for NEET examinations, with AIADMK and BJP claiming that it was DMK and Congress who are responsible.On the other hand, AIADMK (which claims to enjoy proximity to the BJP) was questioned by the Madras high court as to why it kept the state and the legislative assembly in the dark for almost two years about the president rejecting two NEET Bills in September 2017, which were passed unanimously in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly.

Notably, such a development was revealed only when the Centre filed an affidavit in response to a PIL petition filed by Tamil Nadu Students Parents Welfare. The affidavit later filed by the Centre with a detailed sequence of events related to the bills revealed that there was no response from the Centre for the 11 letters sent by the state government between 2017 and 2019 seeking reasons for withholding the assent.

Return to the past as the world strides forward

While the Centre remains mum on the reason for withholding the assent, questions related to the inherent biases of NEET remain unaddressed. When the world is moving towards providing a level playing field for the student community, India is forcefully persuading the states to enter into a well chartered territory of standardised examinations, with inherent biases to skew the class and caste composition of the selected cohort. Notably, even with the intervention by the government to increase women’s representation in IITs via creating supernumerary seats, the bias regarding affording coaching classes to achieve access is not eliminated.

Here lies the reason why issues around NEET are politicised along the lines of state autonomy in decision making and the concerns of the aspirational public, given that decision making by any government in relation to sectors like education is inherently political.

With a clamour for silencing voices against NEET, in the name of maintaining an apolitical public sphere in matters of education, a great deal of disservice is rendered to the student community and by extension, society. Those in power must listen to those on ground, and voices from below should inform policymaking.

Dr Yazhini P.M. is a registered medical practitioner from Government Theni Medical College and is currently based in Chennai. She tweets @yazhini_pm.