Overview
- Anil D. Sahastrabudhe will chair the committee with psychiatrist Dr Jitendra Nagpal and a Higher Education joint secretary, and the group must report within 15 days.
- The mandate includes examining recent cases on campus, reviewing compliance with the July 2023 guidelines, identifying gaps, and recommending preventive measures.
- IIT Kanpur has made mental-health screening mandatory for all new students, expanded its counselling team to 10 psychologists with a clinical head, and set up a 24x7 crisis response.
- Kalyanpur police are investigating the death of PhD scholar Ramswroop Ishram, 25, who allegedly jumped from a campus building; a post-mortem is underway and his wife is being questioned.
- The latest death is part of a recent cluster that has prompted alumni to cite 65 IIT student suicides since 2021, including 30 in the past two years with nine at IIT Kanpur, and to urge leadership accountability.