Kolkata | In a move aimed at supporting students facing emotional distress and preventing campus tragedies, IIT Kharagpur is considering installing smaller ceiling fans in hostel rooms to make them unusable for self-harm, a senior institute official said on Thursday.
The move comes in the wake of multiple student deaths by suicide on the campus this year, sparking concern over emotional well-being among hostel residents.
"Apart from taking steps like reaching out to students on campus 24x7, interaction with parents of boarders every alternate month and 'campus mothers' programme (where women faculty and staff members serve as emotional mentors for students), and having permanent psychiatrists, we are also exploring steps like scaling down size of ceiling fans so that it cannot be used for any other purpose," institute director Suman Chakraborty told PTI.
Chakraborty said, "This is not an alternative to addressing mental health issues. But to avoid certain situations triggered by sudden impulses to self-destruct oneself, when none may be around, during certain moment."
He added that the presence or absence of tools to cause self-harm can make a crucial difference in critical moments, especially when backed by counselling and emotional support.
To a question, the director said, "We are mulling to replace fans of all the 21 hostels, housing around 16,000 students, with smaller ones in phases. So can't give a timeline immediately."
A 10-member fact-finding team has been formed by the premier institute to explore the circumstances and factors which led to the death of fourth-year BTech student Ritam Mondal who was found hanging in his hostel room on July 18.
Mondal, a 21-year-old mechanical engineering student, had returned to campus on July 15, a day after the convocation, following a two-month vacation.
On January 12, Shaon Malik, a third-year electrical engineering student, died by suicide.
On April 20, Aniket Walker, a final-year Ocean Engineering student from Maharashtra, was found hanging in JC Bose Hall.
On May 4, Mohammad Asif Qamar, a third-year BTech student from Bihar, was found dead in his room at Madan Mohan Malviya Hall.
The institute also installed bar codes on the gates of every hostel room where the helpline number of counselling services can be scanned by a student in emotional stress at any hour.
