IIT Kharagpur has reconstituted the council of the dean of students’ affairs and assigned its work groups specific tasks such as “hall-related issues, including harassment of any kind” and “students’ well-being”.
The reconstitution of the council follows the death of third-year undergraduate student Faizan Ahmed, whose body was found in a hostel room on the campus in October,
Faizan’s death triggered questions on whether the IIT was doing enough to ensure its students’ well-being.
A circular issued by registrar Tamal Nath says the council will have five work groups, one of which will work on “harassment of any kind” in hostels.
The other groups will look after “students’ well-being”, “legal issues, data collection and analysis”, “sports, social and cultural activities” and “liaison with academic units and office of dean”.
T he work g roup on “hall-related issues, including harassment of any kind” has six members, all teachers. Of all the work groups, the one on “hall-related issues” has the maximum number of members.
Post-reconstitution, the council of the dean of students’ affairs has 20 members. Earlier, there were only 10 members.
An IIT official said Faizan’s death and a rise in the number of students with mental health issues prompted the authorities to reconstitute the council and assign specific responsibilities to the work groups.
“We were having discussions on the need to constitute work groups, given the increasing number of cases related to mental health and behavioural issues among students,” the official said.
