Students at IIT Delhi are staging protests in response to the recent death of a fellow student. The Cockroach Janta Party has voiced its support for these demonstrations, highlighting a troubling trend of rising student suicides within Indian Institutes of Technology. They assert that this issue points to a significant structural problem within the educational system.
Tragic Incident at IIT-Delhi
A 31-year-old MSc Physics student reportedly fell to his death from the sixth floor of the Lecture Hall Complex at IIT-Delhi on Saturday morning. The administration confirmed the incident in a statement released on August 22.
On Monday, students across the institution staged a protest from 9am. The protest continued till 5pm. “We demand an independent investigation into the lapses committed by the administration that made the student take his life, address issues like non-allocation of housing facility, denial of academic projects…clear disclosure of the institute’s mental health protocol regarding students seeking counselling.
Due to the hours-long campus unrest, afternoon classes for the remainder of the day were also suspended. Students also called for an independent probe into alleged institutional lapses and ₹ 1 crore in compensation for the deceased student’s family. We also demand the resignation of the dean and associate deans (ADSW and ADHM) in the students affairs office and the head of the department, physics, and we demand the family of the student to be compensated adequately and compassionately with ₹ 1 crore,” the demand charter submitted by the protesting students said.
“But the Institute seems to have failed to provide the requisite support, including his hostel accommodation and appropriate counseling,” Ranka wrote on X , adding that the CJP stands in solidarity with the students at IIT Delhi and the family of the deceased. Students carried placards that read “IIT-D: Dreams or Death,” as they demanded the resignation of the dean and associate deans of the Students’ Welfare Office, as well as the head of the physics department.
