21-Apr-2014
KOLKATA: IIT-Kharagpur, the country’s oldest and biggest IIT, is on top of a very dubious list that’s being pursued by the HRD ministry. With 22 suicides in the past six years, the mental health of students on this campus is a cause of concern for the ministry and though it is in a limbo at the moment because of the ensuing elections, the institute has been advised by officials in Delhi to devise ways in which student interaction could be maximized so that aberrations can be easily be identified.
A slew of changes have been rung in by the campus authorities. Students are excited and they say that this is the first time that they are actually being told by the faculty and other senior members of the administration that there is more to life than just grades. On an average, a student spends at least 16 hours in a day studying or completing projects. The rest of the time is divided between social networking sites, sleep and food.
The programme has been christened “Reach Out” and each is designed to bring students out of their hostels for at least an hour every day for informal interaction. Lights are being turned off and LAN connections cut off at the hostels at the appointed hour so that students are forced to come out on the greens and do nothing but laugh, joke and chat. “It was such a relief, we were actually sitting here and there and chatting in real and not virtual terms,” said Atal Ashutosh, a second-year student of mining engineering.
The last two suicides on the campus in March has left it rattled. Both students chose to end their lives despite being good students. Facts like they seemed cut off and depressed started tumbling out after they were gone and beyond help.
“It is sad that someone is so depressed next door that he takes his life while the boys next door are out celebrating Holi downstairs. Obviously he must have showed palpable signs for days together but no one had the time or the urge to notice that. IIT Kgp was never like this and we needed to do something urgently to identify crisis cases,” said P P Chakraborty, the director of the institute.
Night tug-of-war, hopscotch, kabaddi, pittoo, kho-kho and other indigenous matches are being played to involve everyone. Absentees, if any, are being met and encouraged to join.
“We have coined a slogan – ‘We are keeping our flames alive’ and are sending each other these messages. Each one of us is on the look out for a chance loner who might be avoiding such activities. These will immediately be reported,” said Pravin Kaushal, a fifth-year student.
Third-year student Ravish Raja said he has already made a huge gang of friends through the reach-out programme.
Special assignments are also being charted out for faculty members so that they visit hostels, have dinner with the boys and spend hours interacting with them.
Many felt that the rising numbers at the campus has put the faculty under so much pressure that they have become somewhat alienated from students.
THE DISPATCH...On Mental Health 