Students at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Guwahati have halted their protests after a dean of the institute, Professor Kanduru V Krishna, resigned on Wednesday. The students also claim they have been assured that three more faculty members will resign within a week.
Thousands of students had protested since Monday, boycotting classes after a student’s death by suicide on Sunday. The students demanded an investigation and accountability, believing that the institute had failed to respond to students’ complaints of mental harassment and stress.
The students decided to stop their protests after a four-hour meeting between the Student Gymkhana Council and IIT Guwahati Director Professor Devendra Jalihal on Wednesday, sources said.
Professor Jalihal reportedly assured the protesting students that four officials would resign within a week.
A third-year Computer Science student, from Uttar Pradesh, was found hanging in his hostel room on Monday. It was the fourth student death at IIT Guwahati this year; an engineering student allegedly died by suicide on August 9.
Protesters allege that immense academic pressure and mental harassment from the administration had pushed these students over the edge.
Many students have raised concerns about the mental well-being of those studying at the institute and the role of the administration in creating a stressful academic environment.
The administration was urged to take immediate steps to address the issues flagged and improve support for students struggling with mental health challenges.
Tackling these protests, IIT-Guwahati asked journalists not to visit campus.
“Members of the media are requested not to visit the campus now. The institute assures you that the situation is being treated with utmost urgency and the media will soon be invited to the campus for a meeting with the Director. We request members of the press to understand and co-operate with us in these difficult times and give us a few days to bring the situation back to normalcy and invite you to campus for a briefing” the institute informed journalist,” the institute said in a statement.
