75% attendance rule, backlogs reasons for IIT Guwahati student death, classmates call out instructor

NEW DELHI: The tragic death of the third-year engineering student of Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati (IIT Guwahati) has sparked fear and concern among students as this is the second incident in a month and fourth death on campus this year. In a shocking allegation, the protesting students said academic pressure, 75% attendance rule, and backlogs led him to take the extreme step and demanded the administration to tweak the policy and provide mental health support.

The student who was pursuing computer science engineering was suffering from physical health issues and was disturbed mentally. Although he provided medical certificates, the students alleged that the “teachers did not consider, and he subsequently became more depressed”.

In light of the recent incident, thousands of students gathered outside the administrative block protesting against the student death and demanded solutions to tackle academic pressure. The general secretary of the deans of students’ welfare at IIT-Guwahati told Careers360 that the administration will organise an open house and an awareness rally as part of the World Suicide Prevention Week.

Reasons for IIT Guwahati student death

Protest erupted after a rise in number of students’ suicide due to academic pressure at the 9th best institute in India. IIT Guwahati was ranked 9th in the NIRF rankings 2024.

A IIT-G student took to X to write about the experience of students who allegedly faced “discrimination and threats” for pointing out the lack of facilities on campus.

A total of 42 students failed in a course, he said. The third-year student who was found dead on Monday was one among them. “We demanded to call out that instructor so as to reply to the questions, which was rejected,” he said.

Students also alleged earlier that despite providing medical certificates, the instructors refused to consider the request of the deceased. However, this was not an isolated incident. He said several others also faced similar issues, wherein professors refused to listen and co-operate despite having medical reasons.

Also read NLU Delhi scraps mid-semester exams after student’s suicide on campus

In one such incident, when a student asked for some relaxation as his mother met with an accident, the professor allegedly replied: “She is not dead! Right?” “There was another suicide last month and when admin reached her room, the person there passed racist comments on the dress of girl rather than addressing the suicide. This shows that Admin has normalised the suicides to a large extent,” he said.

“One girl commented on the IIT-G's post of NIRF Ranking about the lack of facilities and high suicides. Somebody from Admin called her mother unknowingly forcing her to remove the comment,” he added.

Student protesters alleged that causes of suicides over the last five years have been recorded as "unknown', that professors were seen laughing during the protest and failed to note down questions from students. "Most of the time the reply from admin was like: agreed, true, accepted. They were completely blank and not ready and they didn't expect this outrage," wrote one on X.

IIT Guwahati Open House: Student agendas

The students have suggested both short-term and long-term agendas to address the challenges faced by them. “Though this might seem like an opportunity to take a stab at the admin, we hereby assure you that all of the following proposals are incorporated into this agenda only after thorough consideration and discussion with all students. These issues are aimed at tackling the academic stress and burden of the students while also addressing the welfare of the entire community,” it said.

The students demanded immediate resignation of DOAA and professor Vinay Wagh, formal apology from administration to the affected students, and written assurance from DOSA regarding immediate redressal of issues. Additionally, they have submitted 15 long-term agendas, which is given below.

• Relaxation of attendance policies
• Reforms in the mid-semester and end-semester schedules
• Restricting academic activities (quizzes and tests) on weekends
• Reintroducing mid-semester break
• Committe/Body to oversee student-professor interactions and grades
• Restructuring courses like COS, HSS, OE and others
• Consideration of intern, placement seasons as official student activities
• Academic, Industrial visits once a year to improve student interactions
• Adapting all Inter-IIT events as institute activities
• Summer term and regular courses allotment and grades distribution
• Review of Code of Conduct with a student and faculty committee
• 24/7 accessible spaces for students of all genders to study, work / talk
• Restoring student entries via KV gate at night
• Reconsidering freshers interaction ban and hostel allotment
• Right to speech for students and transparent complaint redressal.

If you know someone - friend or family member - at risk of suicide, please reach out to them. Those in distress or having suicidal thoughts or tendencies could seek help and counselling by calling 9820466726 or visiting AASRA's official website or can call iCALL on 9152987821. Here are some more helpline numbers of suicide prevention organisations that can offer emotional support to individuals and families.