IIT Madras launches wellness survey for students, faculty, staff

NEW DELHI: Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras launched a wellness survey for students, faculty and staff on May 4. An independent agency has been appointed to reach out to these groups for responses. The survey will be conducted by over 30 counsellors who will have one-to-one conversations with the stakeholders.

The survey is being conducted under the aegis of the National Health Mission (NHM) of the Tamil Nadu government. The program was inaugurated by IIT director V Kamakoti. This comes after multiple cases of suicide on the IIT Madras campus just this year, the last one in April.

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IIT Madras wellness efforts

IIT Madras had earlier launched a wellness series and the “Be happy” website to combat stress and depression among students and staff.

IIT-M has also started “Kushal Programme” under the leadership of the director which aims to bring the students and faculty closer for wellness. Commenting on this, Kamakoti said: “Happiness is a collective responsibility. IIT Madras is committed to work towards ensuring the wellness of all in her campus. The independent wellness survey is one of the important steps taken in this direction. I thank the NHA, Government of Tamil Nadu, for helping us in this effort.”

At the recent IIT Council meeting, the sharp uptick in suicides on campus was discussed in details leading to multiple decisions on setting up wellness centres and appointing counsellors.

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