National Institute of Design finds a 'dost' for its students' mental, emotional well being - DNA

National Institute of Design finds a 'dost' for its students' mental, emotional well being


Depression Picture for representational purpose , Thinkstock

WRITTEN BY

Tanushree Bhatia Updated: Oct 11, 2018, 06:05 AM IST

After IIT-Madras, National Institute of Design, becomes the second educational institution to make provisions for its students to deal with stress and anxiety and open up to counsellors.

Four year old start up YourDost, is an emotional online platform that offers counselling services round the clock, while keeping their identity of the users anonymous.

The institute has bought the services of YourDost so that the students can avail it for free.

YourDost was founded by Richa Singh, a graduate of IIT-Guwahati, after one of her batch mates committed suicide due to academic pressure. She had realised then the need to have someone to speak to, which can even help save lives. The platform allows instant access to users to share their problems through an online interface. A team of over 75 experts cater to the needs of the users.

Pradyumna Vyas, Director, NID, said, "While in today's world, technology has made connections easier, loneliness on other hand has also increased. These days, students go through a lot of pressure, career issues, anxiety, burden of expectation, etc. The pressure eventually reaches a level where they need to share and open up, to feel light and be guided on the right track. Hence, we thought of tying up with a professional body to ensure their mental and emotional well being.

While we can appoint counsellors on campus, it becomes difficult to avail their services 24x7. That apart, anonymity helps, as we have seen several times that students are less enthusiastic about turning up in person." This platform will deal with both these issues.

"The facility can be availed by students, faculty and entire NID community across all campuses," added Vyas.

Commenting on the initiative, an ex-student of Strategic Media Design at NID, Gandhinagar, said, "The initiative will be beneficial to students who often grapple with academic pressure and financial troubles. However, I feel that sharing things with a counseller in person helps build trust and hence it becomes easier to pour ones heart out. So I am not very sure about how much a will be willing to student share on an online platform."

How IIT Madras' 'happiness' programme helps students deal with mental pressure - India Today

How IIT Madras' 'happiness' programme helps students deal with mental pressure

• Roshni Chakrabarty
• New Delhi
• May 9, 2018
• UPDATED 15:41 IST
• FOLLOW
•   EMAIL AUTHOR

• IndiaToday.in
• FOLLOW
•   EMAIL AUTHOR

• READ LATER

IIT Madras has two student-run teams and a ‘happiness’ programme among other measures to help counsel students.

The very coaching and preparation to get into IITs is a nerve-wracking experience and news of student suicides especially when they fail to crack JEE or cannot deal with unnatural, continuous study methods is not new. But what happens to students who crack the exams and become an IIT-ian?

IIT-ians have packed schedules with classes, workshops, presentations, seminars and research projects among other work. Almost everyone is studying or innovating and such an atmosphere can at times become too much for the young college-goers.

India Today Education spoke with Professor MS Sivakumar, Dean (Students) from IIT Madras to know about the various innovate methods taken up by the institute to deal with student stress and suicidal tendencies.

Prof S.M. Sivakumar, Dean (Students), Indian Institute of Technology Madras

MITRA AND SATHI: THE STUDENT-RUN COUNSELING TEAMS

IIT-Madras has two predominantly student-run counseling teams -- Mitra and Sathi -- which help counsel students. While Mitra is for reactive handling of student stress and mental issues, Sathi is for preventive measures.

Reaction means when a student is already going through some emotional trauma; then the Mitra team helps in terms of coping with whatever emotional burden and also takes them to get professional help if they require it.

- Prof SM Sivakumar, Dean (Students), IIT Madras

"As far as Sathi is concerned, it is for preventive work. The team works towards building skills the students would need in terms of coping with certain situations that they might have to tackle. They could be of different nature -- peer pressure they deal with academically or even relationships. They do get tensed about small things as well," the professor adds.

Members of the Sathi team are trained at the grassroots level so that they are ready to help impart the first level counseling before they take the students for professional support provided at IIT Madras.

IIT Madras has two student-run counselling teams which help provide direction to troubled students.

COURSES INTRODUCED TO HELP STUDENTS DEAL WITH LIFE CHANGES AND STRESS

First-year students need to take Life Skills (1 and 2) and a course.

"An important thing that students have to learn is how to get along -- whether it's with people, environment, animals or several other things. Students here undergo a change from being a school student to being an IIT-ian who is looked up to in terms of leadership skills, academic skills etc. So, how to get along and how to find ways by which to get along is the first step in Life Skills 1," says Sivakumar.

Students going from campus to corporate sectors need to learn certain important strategies. In Life Skills 2, IIT Madras deals with such changes that students wish to have, dream of, or are dealing with.

Many times, one of the difficulties they face is dealing with conflict -- it can arise anywhere and everywhere. How do you resolve conflicts? How do you become a leader? What kind of leadership skills are there? Why do you need to learn reason? -- These are some of the things covered in Life Skills 2.

These are seeds sown into the students so that they can build on all the seeds that we have sown.

- Prof SM Sivakumar, Dean (Students), IIT Madras

The Happiness programme carried out in IIT Madras is a brilliant initiative that provides training and information to strengthen the minds of students and develop their personality.

Apart from this, another thing noticed among students was that though they had unparalleled creative skills, but didn't realise it. For this, IIT Madras offers a course on creativity too.

"I felt the need for introducing course on Happiness, called 'Happiness, Habits and Success' so students can understand themselves," says the professor.

Through this course, students can learn a variety of tools available to understand oneself and to understand the need for development through a scientific approach.

The course includes latest psychology research, the impact of positive emotions and gratitude, a guide to meditation, advice on how to avoid distractions, research on sleep and the power of habits, the power of language, and the definition of personal purposes.

The bottom line is -- when a student feels there is no other way by which his or her problem can be resolved and they see themselves corned, that is when they feel stuck and start to abort.

- Prof SM Sivakumar, Dean (Students), IIT Madras

"If we build in them the skill of looking at various possibilities by which they can cope with the particular kind of corner they face, that is empowerment for them," adds the professor.

This capacity to deal with student stress or even suicidal tendencies is exactly what IIT Madras is building through various fronts -- through workshop modes, student-run teams like Saathi or Mitra, interaction with other students, discussion forums -- in order to communicate to students that there are possibilities they haven't explored.

An electronic board outside the office of Dean (Students), IIT Madras, urging students to call helpline if they have any stress-related issues.

HOW TO DEAL WITH PARENTAL PRESSURE WHICH IS A MAJOR CONTRIBUTOR TO STUDENT STRESS

Parents will always want what's best for their children and their definition of 'best' usually consists of a high salary by which their children can live a well-to-do life.

But this means that most of the time they simply aren't aware about how they become the primary contributors to their child's stress which then creates health problems.

"It's not so easy that you will just tell this to parents and it will get done," says IIT Madras' Dean of students.

"Parents have a nagging fear -- 'What if my child is not able to have the comforts of a life that is good?' And it is always attached to the profession that they take up. They do not know that there are certain talents, skills and dispositions that one needs to have and build so that they can go into a particular profession," Sivakumar adds.

He says that parents find themselves in a mess because they keep saying "study, study, study". But all they want is for their child to do something meaningful while moving on in life.

Surprisingly, the professor says that parents need to focus on building the strengths if their children instead of focusing on the subjects they aren't good at.

If my child got 95 in maths and 50 in chemistry, I should put my child in a tuition class for maths because building a strength is what should be done.

- Prof SM Sivakumar, Dean (Students), IIT Madras

Parental pressure is a major contributor to student stress.

COUNSELLING AND INTERACTION SESSIONS WITH PARENTS

At IIT Madras, a programme is held which school students along with their parents are invited to attend. Here, the parents are shown how their child really is. They are then told how they can nurture certain creative aspects of the kids.

I am not saying that don't do other things. But if you start to nurture and use language powerfully, the world will be a different place. We will be flooded with people who are very self-confident and who can do things they love to do.

- Prof SM Sivakumar, Dean (Students), IIT Madras

"Today one of the biggest difficulties we face is parents push their kids into doing something. Many parents of that sort come. I sit with them and tell them oh there's a connection!"

He tells us about an incident where he met a metallurgy student of IIT Madras who said that he hated metallurgy as there was no mathematics there.

"So I sat down with him and showed where all mathematics is there and how beautifully it is intertwined with materials," the professor says.

"That was the end of his demotivated period. Now he sees mathematics in many different ways when he goes to his material course."

Professor Sivakumar says that a certain mindset change needs to happen which can allow child and parent see each other's points of view.

He explains:

So it's a way that the shift has to occur so it is possible for both the parent and the child to be able to understand. In fact, I did this exercise along with the parent so that they can understand where the problem is.

Prof S.M. Sivakumar, Dean (Students), IIT Madras, talking to students

PROFESSIONAL COUNSELLING UNITS AT IIT MADRAS

IIT Madras also has professional counselling units and two professional counselling providers. They use several means to touch students-it could be through online chat, or face to face counselling.

When the counsellor looks at a student we have pulled out of the brink, the reason seems to be a very simple reason, says Sivakumar.

The professor explains how we are blinded by stress:

If you take a coin and put it in front of your eyes, everything else disappear, only the coin is visible. A very similar thing happens to them-the moment they have a little bit more time, they come out of this rut.

"So, how do we bring in that particular time that they need to have -- this is what we work on," he adds.

Professional counsellors are present in IIT Madras who help students where Sathi and Mitra fail

HOW IIT MADRAS HELPS STUDENTS DEVELOP A 'GROWTH MINDSET'

Life will always have one challenge or another, each of which can help us learn various life skills. The moment we get stuck after failing to get to our goals via one path, our life seems to stop.

Students need to avoid getting stuck after a failure and develop a 'growth mindset' that can help them keep moving on in life without getting sucked into a depressive state.

"Motivation is about what you want to do, what you want to be, what you want to have-and these are not static, these are dynamic," Professor Sivakumar explains.

The concept of 'growth mindset' as explained by the Dean:

We need to understand that there are several ways that we can achieve our goals. There is no one single path that takes you to the goal -- understanding this itself will help enable you to see other ways to achieve your goals and therefore not get de-motivated. I call this the 'growth mindset'.

Professor MS Sivakumar has some amazing advice for students which most youngsters tend to forget:

"We are not here to do a sprinting. It is a long life. Don't worry! If you are 20, you have around 70 more years that you can live happily."

Read: The IIT Bombay robotics team is doing something hardly any Indian has done before

Read: Students in Japan clean their own classrooms and school toilets and the reason is incredible

Read: How one man became so tired of rote-learning that he battled odds and started his own school

IIT-M launches online counselling - TNN

IIT-M launches online counselling

Updated: Oct 13, 2016, 12.51 AM IST

CHENNAI: To help students easily access mechanisms that can assist in dealing with stress, Indian Institute of Technology, Madras has introduced an online emotional wellness platform called 'YourDOST aims to increase awareness regarding mental wellness and break the prevalent social stigma attached to seeking psychological help on campus. The mechanism has been introduced in the hope that a larger number of students would be more comfortable on an online forum when compared to the existing face-to-face system.

The anonymous forum functions similar to a chatroom where students with a user ID and password can log onto a counselling session. These sessions are usually a one-on-one with a professional at the other end. The institute has roped in a number of experts including psychologists, life coaches and career coaches.

General secretary of the student body, Purab Jain says that there is a lot of stigma attached to counselling. "Many aren't comfortable saying they are taking up a counselling session. We already had a regular counselling mechanism where counsellors come to the campus. However, some students may feel uneasy about going to a counsellor's room with other students watching. This is precisely why YourDOST was launched," he said.

On the other hand, the institute is also strengthening its peer support network. The guidance and counselling team IIT-M called 'Mitr' has now been split into two wings -proactive guidance and reactive guidance. 'Saathi' the proactive wing of the campus involves around 250 student mentors involved in creating awareness and sensitizing students about overall well-being. It will also manage platforms to support enhancement of skills for personal and professional growth.

"Each of the 250 mentors have about 5 mentees, most of the mentees being first-year students as they are new to campus. Mentors will help resolve issues at the student level or suggest professional help if required," said Jain, adding that another level of mentors will cater to the seniors. Mitr which remains the other wing now deals with reactive mechanism where students help others deal with the aftermath of an issue or an incident or could also involve disciplinary action, said the student body. 

Do You Know Your Classmate is Suicidal? - Indian Express

Do You Know Your Classmate is Suicidal?

By Varun B Krishnan

Published: 07th March 2016 03:31 AM

Try Googling ‘Suicide Tamil Nadu’. By the time you type the ‘a’ in Tamil Nadu, the search engine throws up disturbing suggestions like ‘suicide tips in Tamil’. It’s a widely known fact that Tamil Nadu ranks a notorious second in the number of suicides reported per year (16,122 in 2014; 853 student deaths according to the National Crime Records Bureau). But looking closely at the suicide trend after the death of three college girls in Villupuram, it has come to light that student suicides are not restricted to Board Exam time alone, and stories about college students committing suicide are often reduced to tiny news items.

On February 27, a college student in Tiruchy hanged himself as he was accused of stealing a mobile phone. On February 17, a student in Virudhunagar district self-immolated after he was taken to task on disciplinary grounds. In October last year, two students who had come from smaller towns took their lives at IIT-Madras.

A pattern emerges from the data — several college students who commit suicide fall under certain categories: they hail from smaller towns, they come from weak economic backgrounds, and some of their parents may have even sold their land or mortgaged their jewellery for the sake of educating their children. “Students from rural areas are brilliant in academics, but they lack knowledge about interpersonal relationships, social life and the diversity here,” says Saras Bhaskar, a counselling psychologist. “To rectify this situation, there has to be a proper orientation programme which will make the transition to college life easier.”

Illustration  Tapas Ranjan

Christina, a student counsellor at Loyola College, concurs. “We insist that in orientation, there should be group formation and group activities — let them mingle with other students. Once they form a group, there won’t be too many problems,” she says. “But when they begin to feel they don’t belong in this place or college, that’s a serious concern. Such students strongly feel like outsiders and wait for people to talk to them.”

Another issue is that many students have a lot of free time. If college hours are 8.30 am to 1.30 pm, they have the rest of the day to themselves. “Without a proper group, they start drinking or use drugs,” adds Chrisina. “A neuro-pathway gets created in a way that they are always out of reality.”

Saras Bhaskar recalls a case when a student’s roommates came to her with a problem — their friend was isolating himself for long periods. “He was in a depressed state and didn’t want his parents to know,” she says. Bhaskar advises counselling for parents too, while Christina adds that parents need to allow children to mingle with everyone, face situations, and help them live through failures.

Prevention of suicide should be a holistic approach that involves students, the institution, parents and teachers, they opine.

BJP stifling students' voice: Congress on IIT Madras circular to bar political activity - First Post

BJP stifling students' voice: Congress on IIT Madras circular to bar political activity

Feb 10, 2016 21:51 IST

New Delhi: Congress on Tuesday accused the BJP of "stifling" students' voice, as it reacted sharply to IIT- Madras reportedly issuing a circular to bar all kinds of political activity.

Representational image. Reuters

"BJP stifling student's voice-FTII, JNU, ban on Ambedkar Study Circle, Rohith Vemula's death & now ban on political activities by IIT Madras," AICC Communication Department Chief Randeep Surjewala said on Twitter.

A newspaper report had it that IIT-Madras has issued a circular with an aim to bar all kinds of "political activity" because that is "against the apolitical nature of the institute".

IIT Madras had courted a controversy in past over banning Dalit students' group, a decision which it revoked later following nationwide protests.

The report mentioned that one clause in the circular — an undertaking to be signed by students, scholars, project associates and others said that they shall not indulge in any activity that will adversely affect the image of the university.

Congress earlier took up the issue of Vemula's suicide aggressively with Rahul Gandhi visiting the Hyderabad University Campus twice.

HRD Minister Smriti Irani had accused the rivals of BJP of attempting to "instigate" students across the country over the issue.

PTI

Campus Row: IIT-Madras circular bars all ‘political activities’ - Indian Express

Campus Row: IIT-Madras circular bars all ‘political activities’

Director calls it a ‘mistake’, says no intention to impose such rules; students slam move, link it to Rohith Vemula protests

Written by Arun Janardhanan , Dipti Nagpaul D'souza | Chennai | Published:February 10, 2016 2:05 am

IIT-Madras

LESS THAN a year after IIT-Madras banned a Dalit students’ movement, and then revoked the decision following nationwide protests, the authorities, it has emerged, have issued another circular, this time with an aim to bar all kinds of “political activity” because that is “against the apolitical nature of the institute”.

Another clause in the circular — an undertaking to be signed by students, scholars, project associates and others – says, “I shall not indulge in any activity that will adversely affect the image of the university”.

Taking objection, students and students’ group representatives said these were vague clauses that will be open to interpretation, and can be used against any student at any point to drive him/her out of the hostel, which is the last point in the undertaking. In fact, as one student pointed out, something not very dissimilar had been done with Rohith Vemula, a PhD scholar from Hyderabad Central University, who was suspended, leading to his suicide that sparked nationwide protests.

RELATED ARTICLE

• Centre sets up Judicial Commission to probe into Dalit student suicide
• Dalit scholar suicide: Campus battlelines drawn, students reject decision to revoke suspension
• Malicious intent to present Rohith Vemula suicide as a caste battle: Smriti Irani
• Rohith Vemula suicide: Hyderabad University VC denies pressure from HRD Ministry
• IIT-Madras: APSC stages protest on campus against de-recognition
• IIT-Madras reprimands students' body that criticised Narendra Modi and saffronisation
• Centre sets up Judicial Commission to probe into Dalit student suicide
• Dalit scholar suicide: Campus battlelines drawn, students reject decision to revoke suspension
• Malicious intent to present Rohith Vemula suicide as a caste battle: Smriti Irani
• Rohith Vemula suicide: Hyderabad University VC denies pressure from HRD Ministry
• IIT-Madras: APSC stages protest on campus against de-recognition
• IIT-Madras reprimands students' body that criticised Narendra Modi and saffronisation
• Centre sets up Judicial Commission to probe into Dalit student suicide
• Dalit scholar suicide: Campus battlelines drawn, students reject decision to revoke suspension
• Malicious intent to present Rohith Vemula suicide as a caste battle: Smriti Irani
• Rohith Vemula suicide: Hyderabad University VC denies pressure from HRD Ministry
• IIT-Madras: APSC stages protest on campus against de-recognition
• IIT-Madras reprimands students' body that criticised Narendra Modi and saffronisation

Official response of IIT-Madras varied from initial denial to lack of knowledge to admission of mistake “if such a circular went out”. The Indian Express has accessed the document being circulated in hostels.

Earlier, students were required to submit three affidavits – two anti-ragging undertakings from students and parents, and an “honour code”, or a set of rules or ethical principles for the academic community.

Specifying that he was not aware of any such new rule being implemented, Sivakumar Srinivasan, Dean of Students, said, “May be (it was) a mistake if such clauses are added in the list…or it may be something done by the hostel authorities.”

Srinivasan was blamed for the decision to ban Ambedkar-Periyar Study Circle (APSC) in May 2015 based on an anonymous complaint forwarded by the Union HRD ministry. It alleged that APSC members were inducing “hatred” against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Hindu community.

K Sethupathi, Chairman, Council of Wardens, initially said no such rules were circulated. When told specifically about the clauses and cited with instances of students being served the document for the last two weeks, Sethupathi said he had never “intended” doing so. “(It) may be a mistake,” he said. “If students have a problem, I will send them a clarification mail to not follow any such rule. (A) similar form uploaded on the website has no such clauses.”

IIT-M Director Bhaskar Ramamurthi also initially claimed ignorance but later told The Indian Express that it could have been a “mistake” by his colleagues. Asked how such clauses could be added by mistake, he said a similar rule was implemented in July last year, and revoked following students’ objection. “Officials must have used those papers again. Anyway, I have no intention to impose such rules,” Ramamurthi said.

A senior APSC leader said: “What do they mean by ‘indulging in political activity within the campus…’? It is a very vague rule that can be used against students in different contexts. When the authorities turn indifferent to APSC and other independent student groups, right-wing student groups propagating political ideology of the RSS and inviting their leaders are being treated like official bodies. Groups such as Vivekananda Study Circle or Vande Mataram are allowed to take students on campus buses for temple visits, and they have a permanent room when others have no such privileges.”

Condemning the document, Chinta Bar, an independent students’ movement in IIT-M, said in a statement that it may not be a coincidence that this document comes into circulation soon after student uprisings on campuses across the country following Rohith Vemula’s suicide. “Even in the absence of such undertaking, student activities are under constant surveillance. This undertaking would help administration take action against any student for anything under the tag of “tarnishing the image of IITM”…. This is to silence dissenting voices and crucify independent student bodies,” the statement said.

- See more at: http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/dalit-banned-rohith-vemula-campus-row-iit-madras-circular-bars-all-political-activities/#sthash.iE7zrUWq.dpuf

Getting things right about suicides in IITs - the Hindu

October 27, 2015

Getting things right about suicides in IITs

• PRAVIMAL ABHISHEK

The Hindu

A view of IIT-Madras. Photo: M. Srinath

Innovative steps are the need of the hour, not a fault-finding outcry without any empirical backing, says the writer.

Two suicides in a month at IIT Madras is an unspeakable loss not just to the families of the deceased students but also to the society at large. As a student then, and an alumnus now, these incidents have always disturbed me a lot, and I believe that it is a cause of concern to everyone both inside and outside the institute.

I write this article in response to Arya Prakash’s ‘What has gone wrong with IIT-Madras?’ published on The Hindu Web Exclusives (23 October, 2015). I would like to express my disagreement with the author’s arguments not only on the grounds that the analysis is unsubstantiated, but also on the concern that such a misconceived approach to the problem would lead us nowhere close to the solution.

The recent suicides must be seen as a part of growing trend among all the elite institutes in the country, particularly the IITs. Various social, psychological, and systemic problems must form the context of our discussion. The author dwells upon the system of grading which needs an informed and comprehensive debate. One needs to question whether it leads to a sense of ‘relative deprivation’ despite having high intellectual quotient as Malcolm Gladwell puts it. At the same time, whether absolute grading is any better for the students in terms of ameliorating them from academic pressure and the sense of relative deprivation, needs a thorough examination. This should point us towards an imperative need of reviewing our grading system so that quick and slow learners have a fair chance to excel, and the system is not causative of erosion of confidence.

Instead of making a case for the review of grading system, the author simply puts the blame on the relative grading system as the cause of ‘a sense alienation’ among students. This is too reductionist, for loneliness and alienation are simply not a function of academic performance, they can as well stem from various psychological, social and personal problems. The author perpetuates the orthodox approach to associate every problem faced by the student to academic pressure alone. This is counter-productive to address the problem because some students experience loneliness and a sense of alienation despite having a good academic track record.

On the issue of the academic pressure faced by the backward caste students, a recent on-campus survey by Insight, IIT Bombay shows that students from SC/STs and OBCs end up experiencing more academic pressure than the general category students. Unfortunately, no study has been conducted so far to examine if there is any correlation between suicides and social backgrounds of the students. While this remains a point of concern, one should also acknowledge the efforts being made by the administration to change the situation. IIT Madras offers a basic English course, and recently a ‘Life Skills Course’ was introduced which is first-of-its-kind to enable students manage themselves better. Also, apart from class-room learning, students have access to almost all the courses on the NPTEL platform, which provides an opportunity for going through the lectures as many number of times as needed. Almost all the IITs have professional counselling services in one form or the other. Perhaps, the Professors should also be sensitised to ensure that learning experience in classroom is inclusive and responsive to needs of all students. Such innovative steps are the need of the hour, not a fault-finding outcry without any empirical backing.

The author alleges that MiTR (Guidance and Counselling Unit) of IIT Madras has been counterproductive by turning into a spy agency without any lack of respect for the principle of confidentiality. The Lead Core of MiTR with whom I’ve spoken completely refutes this allegation. Similar counselling services are offered in other IITs too, and they have made a positive impact in many students’ life. The danger of an outright and unsubstantiated allegation on such services is that it prevents the students from approaching these organisations when they are desperately in need of help. In an article titled ‘Depression - An Elephant in the Room’ of Insight, IIT Bombay, the counselling coordinator laments on the perception of a ‘stigma’ associated with seeking counsel. Allegations of these sort only compound that stigma with an added sense of fear. These counselling services must be further strengthened by inducting professional psychiatrists who can render full-time services on campus. Moreover, involving students who have recovered from depression in the counselling services would make the process more effective.

On the issue of attendance criteria, how logical is it to argue that asking a student to attend classes is putting excessive academic pressure on him or her? The attendance policy of IIT Madras is guided by the idea that being a residential institute, the potential of classroom learning experience must be fully tapped. Exemptions to this criteria are available on medical grounds, even if one falls short of 85% attendance. All that a student needs to do is to produce a medical certificate which the on-campus hospital provides. I think by saying that the “students are thrown out of campus”, the author has exaggerated the issue unnecessarily. The stringent rule of asking a student to vacate the hostel applies only when one fails to secure minimum attendance in more than two courses in a semester. Moreover, a thorough background check is done on the student before taking such a decision. Clearly, the criteria and the process tell us that the spirit of the rule is not to pressurise the students but to set a deterrent against absenteeism.

As pointed out at the outset, this phenomena of suicides in elite institutions is a great loss for both families and society. Only a correct diagnosis can help us find a correct treatment for the problem. Being residential campuses, premier institutes like IITs should ensure that the campus ecosystem has the capacity to positively shape individuals’ personal and social life without confining their focus to easing academic pressure. Neither a fault-finding exercise demanding some ‘radical change’ without any constructive solutions, nor the treatment of such cases as personal problems which have nothing to do with the administration are justified. One needs to be pro-active and constantly engage in dialogue with all the stakeholders to ensure that the most transformative phase in an individual’s life doesn’t lead to a tragic end.

The writer is a dual-degree holder in mechanical engineering from IIT-M and a founding member of the discussion group The Colloquium. He is currently preparing for his civil service exams.

This article is in response to an earlier article by an IIT-M student on the atmosphere at the campus post the suicides - What has gone wrong with IIT-Madras?

Keywords: IIT Madras, IIT suicides, Mitr, students counselling, IIT JEE, premium institutes

Is IIT-Madras a concentration camp? - YNN

Is IIT-Madras a concentration camp?

October 24, 2015, 6:13 PM IST 

Sanjiv Shankaran in Cash Flow | India | TOI

In the wake of two suicides by students in IIT-Madras in the space of a few weeks, a student there has written an online essay describing the situation in the campus (What has gone wrong with IIT-Madras?) It is frightening

“Inside the campus it is a widely accepted fact that a majority of students are depressed,” wrote Arya Prakash.

Suicides in IITs have received wide attention. A blog (Why Are So Many IIT Madras Students Trying To Kill Themselves?) hosted by a former IIT student tracks the number of suicides every year. The trend is disturbing as things may be getting worse. Beginning 1981, the blog has tracked 68 suicides. Last year, 2014, witnessed the most in a single year.

Arya Prakash’s essay is specific to conditions at IIT-Madras. It makes for depressing reading and leads one to question the campus environment created by authorities.

One of the points raised by Arya Prakash is generic. He points out the academic system in IIT is in favour of students who have had access to top notch schooling and are fluent in English.

In a story written on IITs by Business Today in 2013, IIT-Madras’ Director, Bhaskar Ramamurthi, addressed this issue.

“We will have the problem of extremely diverse groups with language and social adjustment problems. We have to gear up to handle this – a lot of counseling, handholding in the first year,” said Ramamurthi, Director of IIT Madras.(Is Brand IIT broken?).

The effort put in by Ramamurthi’s team does not seem effective.

The problem could lie in the possibility that IIT-Madras is doing a bad job of dealing with students’ issues because they are not mentally geared to do so. A description of the campus atmosphere by Arya Prakash suggests that may be the case.

The campus has a students’ counselling centre called Mitr. Arya Prakash wrote that Mitr coordinators spy on students and fail to keep things in confidence. If that is the case, Mitr ought to be shut down.

The campus atmosphere is pathetic if students feel there is someone watching them.

There are other reasons why it is difficult to escape the conclusion that IIT-Madras resembles a concentration camp.

Araya Prakash wrote that there is hushed moral policing and relationships are seen as unhealthy.

In addition, there are peculiar rules on attendance, awful food which is compulsory and a few other inconveniences. The overarching message is depressing. It is tragic that highly motivated students are forced to survive such an unpleasant campus atmosphere.

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

Comments:

Ram Chandra Gaur

Lucknow

primary reason for depression and suicide is not able to do well academically as compared to other students! this has no correlation to language facilities! the boys who were toppers and recipients of national scholarship and other accolades suddenly cannot reconcile to poor grades !they are though very intelligent have no interest in engineering! iit must facilitate their changeover to pure sciences,humanities or management !i remember, long back, iit kanpur expelled students for poor performance in first year and most of them became ias officers or did extremely well in management! minister of hrd must appoint consultant to suggest way to remove the rigidities and dysfunction of iit madras and save precious talent from withering away in such a heartless manner!