123 - IIT-K forms committee to probe suicide

TNN Sep 23, 2011, 11.04pm IST


KANPUR: Authorities of the Indian Institute of Technology-Kanpur (IIT-K) have constituted a committee to investigate the suicidal death of Mehtab Ahmed, the first year BTech student of material sciences and engineering. Mehtab ended his life on Thursday by hanging himself from the ceiling fan at his hostel room. He was staying in room number D-307 of Hall IX in a single accommodation room.

Talking to mediapersons, registrar, IIT-Kanpur, Sanjeev S Kashalkar said the committee had been formed to find out the exact cause of Mehtab's suicidal death. He said Prof Omkar Dixit of civil engineering department, Prof AR Harish, head counselling service, Prof MK Ghorai of chemistry department, assistant registrar VP Singh and students' representative Abhinav Prateek were in the fact-finding committee. The panel would submit its report in 10 days.

113 - 14th May 2011 - IIT’s stressed-out geeks opt for suicide solution - Tehelka

Management and counseling cells come under fire for failing to tackle spike in deaths
Sai Manish , Chennai

By the time Nitin Reddy’s door on the third floor of the Jamuna Hostel in IIT Madras was broken open by his friend after a frantic call from his father, it was too late. The 24-year-old’s limp body was hanging from the fan.

Barely hours before he cut his life short on 4 May, Nitin had made his intentions clear to his father and friends. “I tried hard but I lost,” wrote Nitin, lovingly called ‘Swamy’ by his friends, on his Facebook wall. He emailed his father A Lakashmana Murthy who works in DRDO and told him he was going to kill himself and what should be done with his possessions after he was gone. By the time Murthy, who works in New Delhi, alerted the local guardians in Chennai, it was all over.

On 2 May, Nitin, a final-year MTech (mechanical engineering) student was ordered to do another semester, which meant he could not pass out with his batchmates and faced the prospect of losing the lucrative job that he had landed at a Bengaluru-based software company.

Like the many bright sparks who fly out of IIT every year, Nitin was an adventure-loving geek. He had hugged a tree, loved someone he shouldn’t have, attended martial arts classes, feigned sickness, slept through an entire flight, performed on stage, ridden a horse, broken a bone, enjoyed his daily dose of World of Warcraft, cheered for Lionel Messi, disapproved of IIT’s skewed sex ratio, gatecrashed a party and anonymously donated to charity

“Nitin was the core (coordinator) under whom I worked at the Centre of Innovation. He was always in the thick of action and was a person who would be up for a discussion any time during the budget meetings,” says hostel mate Sai Prasad. “Two nights before his suicide, he casually mentioned that he feared getting an extension and he could lose his job. But he did not look tense. It was just one of those pre-dinner talks about our personal lives that invariably get mingled with academics. But I didn’t really imagine that he would go this far.”

“He was just asked to serve one more semester,” says IIT director MS Ananth. “As a teacher, I have been shaken by his actions. Professors will always make performance demands and that is how students excel. We can’t run an institution where students have become so sensitive to pressure. We have to look at an individual’s personal history also to examine what made him end his life.”

The management’s attitude has not gone down too well with Nitin’s distraught father who has lodged a police complaint, moved the National Human Rights Commission and is demanding a broader inquiry.

“The management is trying to discredit my son. If he was depressed then we should have been informed by his professors or by the counseling cell,” says Murthy. “I want a probe into this. If it is my son’s fault, then I am ready to take the blame. But if it is the IIT’s fault then the professor who denied my son the opportunity to pass out with his batchmates in May should be suspended.”

It is surprising that despite having personal guides and a Guidance and Counseling Unit (GCU), the management is playing a blame game by invoking Nitin’s history of depression. It is also surprising that Nitin’s guide PV Mannivannan and the management waited until just a week before the last day of the term to tell Nitin that he would have to attend classes for one more semester.

Nitin had landed a plum job at a campus interview. Despite his low CGPA, he was looking to capitalise on the great opportunity and that’s when his professor burst his bubble. His employers were not willing to wait. And also at stake were the innumerable questions that prospective employers might ask about his extension. Moreover he was the only one in his department to have been asked to serve and that amplified his embarrassment. All this created immense psychological stress, which eventually made him take the extreme step.

The death is part of a shocking trend of a spike in suicides among final-year students across IITs. Nitin’s suicide is the third such death in IIT Madras in as many years. Other IITs are even more notorious for their unusually high rates of academically linked suicides.

IIT Kharagpur — called the “suicide hotspot” by students — saw as many three suicides between 23 April and 15 July 2009, and has since averaged one suicide a year. IIT Bombay has been rocked by almost one suicide every year with two suicides in 2007. IIT Roorkee witnessed its first suicide this year when a BTech student jumped to death from the eighth floor of his hostel.

The most notorious of the lot has been IIT Kanpur, which has seen eight suicides in the past five years. In face of these figures, the IIT managements have acted in a manner that even students term “stupid and bizarre”.

If IIT Madras has blamed Nitin for being “depressed”, a four-member committee appointed by IIT Kanpur after the death of final-year student Madhuri Sale last year made even more ridiculous suggestions to prevent suicides. After Madhuri hung herself in her hostel room, the committee comprising professors recommended removing all ceiling fans from hostel rooms and replacing them with pedestal fans. Among the other measures included reducing Internet speeds to curb “web addiction”, which was being touted as one of the main reasons for suicides. There was also a plan to limit the use of cell phones so that parents could not easily talk to their children and pressurise them and also abolish the concept of single rooms and make room sharing mandatory. The plan became the butt of all jokes among the students and invited ridicule from across the board.

Many complain that the GCUs serve no useful purpose. This flaw was bared prominently when IIT Bombay student Srikanth Malepulla, 21, hanged himself in his hostel room. Despite having a GCU that includes professors and professionals, he was not identified by the mentor system as “troubled and prone to suicide”.

“We keep an eye on students in the first year and monitor every move. When they enter the second year, most have formed their friend circle and we stop monitoring their personal lives actively. The GCU cannot be a peeping tom after that and plays a more passive role,” says Ananth.

However, psychologists believe that students and parents should be willing to shoulder the blame as well. “Parents are responsible for this too,” says psychologist Divyan Varghese. “They lower the stress threshold limit of their child due to high expectations. And many kill themselves because of the fear that their parents would not accept failure. The stress on an IITian is more than the stress outside in the real world.”

Tanuj Bansal, who passed out of IIT Delhi in 2007, has an interesting take on why an IITian is under immense duress. “The first two years are the most academically challenging in IIT. But many who come think, just by entering IIT, the battle has been won,” says Bansal. “Ironically, the first two years are the best time to have a good CGPA. Even though the third and fourth years are more relaxed, it is extremely hard to improve in the last two years if one has had low grades in the first two.

“I was in the placement cell and I saw the madness among the final-year students. Out of 1,200, we managed to place 900. But the remaining had to struggle because companies wouldn’t hire them due to low CGPAs. In Nitin’s case, he had low grades but got a good job offer. And then he was given an extension that jeopardised his employment. So it was a combination of stress and embarrassment that made him take the extreme step.”

Bansal’s point becomes even more relevant when seen in the light of Nitin’s outbursts on social networks. For instance, when he received an internship offer from a firm in Texas last year, Nitin wrote on Google Buzz, “Am going to the US for summer internship. All you 9 pointers - IN YOUR FACE”. That gives a rare insight into how Nitin felt about overachievers in a fiercely competitive environment.

“Every kid who comes here has stood first in his school. And in IIT, in a class of 50, somebody out of the No. 1s has to be No. 50. The competition is huge,” says Ananth.

Despite the blame games that ensue after every suicide, there has been no concerted effort at a scientific study of the suicide phenomena that has reached epidemic proportions across IITs. The management has been reluctant to discuss the issue with the Ministry of Human Resource Development. The ministry seems to be oblivious that every few months, stressed out IITians like Nitin are succumbing to a competitive culture that doesn’t afford them the opportunity to breathe easy.

It needs to wake up and conduct a study that transforms the culture of institutes that are producing brilliant engineers and entrepreneurs, but also mental wrecks.

Sai Manish is a Correspondent with Tehelka.
sai.manish@tehelka.com

107 - 09th May 2011 - Yet another IIT suicide - Deccan Chronicle

Anxious parents do a balancing act between expectations 

and fear of losing their child to academic pressure

On Wednesday afternoon, Nitin Kumar Reddy, a final year mechanical engineering student from IIT, Madras committed suicide.

Nitin left a Facebook message on the wall that read: “I fought hard but lost.”

There is more to that final post than what meets the eye. It is not just Nitin.

In the past five months three students from the same institution (including V. Anoop from the same department) have ended their life. Faculty members and officials say that such incidents cannot be attributed to academic pressure alone, but call for immediate attention.

“This is a complex issue that needs to be addressed. No one can say it’s because of academic pressure. There could be several reasons,” says M. Govardhan, dean (students) at IIT-M.

Academicians and educationists feel that students are aware of the pressure they have to handle while they are at such an institution.

“It is a known fact that studying at IIT is no easy task. The students who are part of that institution are self-motivated and are aware of the academic expectations. Moreover, every student may be facing personal and cultural problems as well. The education system cannot be blamed,” says E. Balaguruswamy, former vice-chancellor of Anna University.

Nitin’s department-mates, appeared sad yet strangely indifferent. Maybe because of their exams. They say it’s all about the survival of the fittest.

“It’s exam time and all of us are trying to perform well. We come here to clear the course and such incidents are unfortunate. While some students work with a clear-cut timetable, some may lose their confidence mid-way,” says a second year mechanical engineering student on condition of anonymity.

“I have never felt the pressure of studying at IIT. But it is the survival of the fittest. Entering this prestigious institution is a task on its own. But students have to be responsible and not lose hope,” says a first year M-Tech student.

Nitin’s life changed course when he approached the head of the department to learn that his course needed to be extended by six months. About this incident, the HOD said that the department was still in shock.

“We are all very upset because of this incident. If we lose a student, it’s traumatic but nothing can be done about it,” says S.P. Venkateshan, HoD. of mechanical department, who informed Nitin that he wouldn’t be graduating in May along with his batch mates. “He visited my office twice and that’s when I interacted with him,” says Venkateshan.

Counselling could to an extent help students manage the stress and pressure. Asked if the system is in place at IIT-M, Govardhan says: “We have recently appointed a qualified, fulltime counsellor who is extremely helpful. Students are allowed to approach the department with their problems. Once in a while, the dean of HoDs also interacts with the students so as to make sure they’re comfortable.”

Reasons may be many and yet to be identified, but the frequency at which students commit suicide is alarming and worth an investigation.

105 - 6th May 2011 - Day after suicide at IIT-M, blame game on- TOI

A Selvaraj and Ishan Srivastava May 6, 2011, 12.51am IST
 

CHENNAI: Nitin Kumar Reddy's friends were still in shock a day after his suicide. His father Lakshmanamurthy, in his police complaint against the IIT-M administration and his son's project guide, has said that his son called him in his mobile on Wednesday afternoon before he died. He sounded depressed. Lakshmanamurthy pacified his son over the phone and assured that he will visit him in Chennai and talk to his guide and professors about the problem.

Lakshmanamurthy said in his complaint that he informed his relative Sudhakar Reddy who was also the local guardian of his son. He asked Sudhakar Reddy to go see his son. But it was already too late. Nitin's hostel warden, professor Sathyanarayanan, called Lakshmanamurthy and asked him to rush to Chennai at once. Fearing the worst, Lakshmanamurthy rushed to Delhi airport when Sudhakar Reddy called him and said Nitin was dead. ( IIT student commits suicide on campus )

Lakshmanamurthy has said that the IIT-M administration and Nitin's guide PV Manivannan should have informed him and his son earlier about the delay in filing the project. He said that Nitin had been told suddenly at the very end that his project would be extended.

Based on the complaint, the police have registered a case under Section 174 (unnatural death) of Criminal Procedure Code. "We will pursue and alter the case after detailed interrogation," a police officer said.

Meanwhile, the family members and the relatives of the victim Nitin Kumar Reddy staged a protest at Government Hospital in Royapettah demanding action against the IIT-M officials. But they were pacified by police personnel.

Nitin's body was handed over to his parents after an autopsy, who took it to Kuthalapattu near Chittoor in Andhra Pradesh.

When asked as to what the Institute in general and Guidance and Counselling Unit (GCU) in particular was doing to address the situation and to improve the response against such incidents, dean of students Govardhan M said, "Why are you always reporting negative news about IIT Madras? We also have the maximum number of patents but you didn't report that. But you would want to report the death of 3 out of 5000 students which is statistically not important. Why don't you go to other engineering institutes and find out how many died there. Why only IIT?"

He went on to say, "Do you know the student who died yesterday had a medical history of psychological problems from childhood? But obviously you don't want to investigate." But he quickly corrected the "childhood" part to say, "We have come to know from his friends that when he could not clear JEE in an attempt, he went into depression."

102 - 27th Feb 2011 - Suicide at IIT sparks debate over stress-Deccan Chronicle

Feb. 26: The suicide of Anup Valaparla of Hyderabad in his hostel room on the campus of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Madras, Wednesday night has once again triggered a heated debate among academicians, psychiatrists and the student community on whether the higher education system in the country is putting too much pressure on students driving some of them to end their lives.

According to IIT-M deputy director Prof V.G.Idichandy, the percentage of dejected students has come down and no case of student suicide was reported last year. “We have a full-fledged counselling centre where several students are counselled by a professionals on a daily basis. It is not like all students want to commit suicide. Some of them approach the counsellors for advice,” Prof. Idichandy said.

Speaking about Valaparla, the deputy director pointed out he had withdrawn his project thesis twice which shows he was not confident about his studies. “We allowed him to complete his 5-year course in seven years but he failed to do so. He did not approach us for help,” he said.

Some students in the IIT hostel told this correspondent that Valaparla had no friends in the institute as all his batch-mates had graduated two years ago. “He does not speak to us as he thought we will make fun of him. We could have helped him overcome his problems if he interacted with us,” a BTech student from the same hostel said on condition of anonymity.

IIT and other educational institutions also have counselling centres manned by trained personnel who help students with problems. Prof. Santhakumar of aerospace engineering in IIT-M pointed out it was impossible for the institute to monitor each of the over 6,000 students on the
campus.

26 - 30th April 2007 - 'My list didn't lead to IIT suicide' - Express India

My list didn't lead to IIT suicide'
Rao Jaswant Singh
Posted: Apr 30, 2007 at 0833 hrs IS

Three days after the IIT-Kanpur campus was rocked by a third-year engineering student’s suicide, among the likely reasons for J Bharadwaja’s suicide, offered by a section of students, is a “harsh e-mail” sent by a faculty member.
The e-mail contained a list of students likely to get F-grade — or fail — in the ongoing semester, and was sent by V K Gupta, a faculty and course instructor in the Civil Engineering department. The e-mail, sent to all students, listed roll numbers of those likely to get an F-grade.

With speculations about the reason behind the suicide rife both within and outside the campus, faculty member V K Gupta for the first time discussed the issue with The Indian Express and said the e-mail had no connection with Bharadwaja’s suicide.

Gupta said he had no intention of hurting students’ feelings. "The list of students was sent only to rouse those who were not taking studies seriously," he told The Indian Express. "It was meant to make them realise that they needed to perform to their potential."

He clarified that the list was released back on April 3, so that students could take "corrective action" to fare better in the examination on April 25 (Wednesday).

Bharadwaja committed suicide on the night of April 25 after taking the examination that day.

Gupta said a copy of the list was also sent to Gautam Dev, chairman, IIT-K counseling service, so that students who needed help could get prior attention.

Countering claims of some students that the list could have led to the suicide, Gupta said he had released similar lists on earlier occasions, too. The idea, he stressed, was to encourage students to attend classes. He said the practice has helped many students in improving their performances. “I have always encouraged students to work hard and perform to their potential.”

Gupta read out the e-mail he sent out on April 22: “I wish you all the best for a scintillating performance on 25th morning. Please try your best and keep in mind that there are no short cuts to success. I want all of you to pass the course with flying colours.

“Feel free to get in touch with me, should you need to clear any doubts.”

He said he had even announced some relaxations for students who fared poorly on attendance, “provided they made it up on end-semester examination”.

“I see no reason why my list of April 3 should be held culprit for the unfortunate incident,” he said.

24 - 17th April 2007 – dejavu -Source - IITB Alumni

'Any unstable chemical product is useless, till the time it becomes a stable product'. It's a routine lecture taking place in the chemical engineering department of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT). But the words 'unstable' and 'useless' keep drumming in Dhananjay's head.

With the spate of suicides on its campus, it could well be a scene playing in the mind of a troubled student. Only, it's all happening on screen as Director Anshul Singhal's (B.Tech., Chemical, 2006) film Deja Vu deals with an issue that's simmering on IIT campuses.

The protagonist of Deja Vu, Dhananjay, is desperately seeking stability in the exam-riddled, career-concentrated four years at IIT-Bombay. He keeps stumbling, the tests are stressful and his failure at getting a girlfriend are all taking their toll.

With Singhal being an IIT passout himself, Deja Vu is an insider's view. But as the young director puts it—the film is of the IITians, by the IITians, but not necessarily only for them.

"There was a sense of urgency to portray what I felt about the suicides that were shaking the IITs. We have tried to show the kind of stress and pressures any IIT student faces here, but the way he copes with the problems can actually be universally emulated,"said Singhal, a chemical engineer from IIT-B, after the film was premiered at the Powai
campus on Saturday, 14th April 2007.

Singhal's main lead, Dhananjay, is played by an undergraduate IIT-B student, Ankur Gulati, from the aerospace engineering department.

So impressed was Bollywood screenplay writer and actor Ranjit Kapoor (of Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron and Kabhi Haan, Kabhi Na fame) with the film that he said after the premiere, "With a little bit of trimming, the film can actually be sent to Cannes. I thought I would view Deja Vu a bit patronisingly, but this film has taught me a thing or two."

The young filmmakers are planning to send it to various national and international film
fests with the active support of IIT.

IIT-B Director, Ashok Misra, stated, "I hope we've seen the last of suicides at IIT. The film has the ability to touch students as it talks in their language."Despite the dark theme, the film captures the campus humour that keeps the viewer engaged throughout.

Professor T Kundu of IIT-B who backed Singhal's efforts to make a full-fledged film on the suicide issue, "I am pleasantly surprised that despite being complete amateurs, the Deja Vu team has done exceptionally well,"said Kundu, whose friendly character also
finds a place in the film.

IIT spokesperson Aruna Thosar Dixit added that they planned to send the film to other IITs as well as various other colleges where students face similar problems.

There were two suicides (one in Kanpur and another in IIT-Bombay) even while the film was being made. This gave the team an even more compelling purpose, said Singhal.

He added that an IITian start-up of Jikku Abraham handled the production quite efficiently. Singhal says he learned the ropes of editing from friend Kapil Limbad, while the background score was done by Pushpendra Halped. The one-hour-45-minute film, which cost Rs 2.2 lakh, was funded by IIT-B and took one year to be completed.

(This article appeared in the Times of India dated 17 Apr, 2007)