New Delhi: The Ministry of Education told the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday that 33 students across Indian Institutes of Technology have died by suicide in the last five years. The data covers the 2018–2023 period.
Across the IITs, National Institutes of Technology (NITs) and the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs), there have been 61 suicides in this period, Indian Express quoted the ministry’s answer in parliament as saying. The IITs accounted for more than half of these suicides. The NITs reported 24 and IIMs three in these five years.
“Academic stress, family reasons, personal reasons, mental health issues, etc. are some of the reasons for such suicide cases,” a written response by minister of state for education Subhas Sarkar stated. He was responding to a question from Congress MP L. Hanumanthaiah.
Student suicides at India’s ‘elite’ institutions have been making headlines recently after the death of IIT Bombay student Darshan Solanki. Solanki’s death has also once again highlighted the continuing caste discrimination faced by ‘lower’ caste students – though the authorities have been unwilling to accept this.
In December 2021, the Union government had told parliament that 122 students had died by suicide at higher educational institutions under the Centre between 2014 and 2021. Of the 122 students, 24 belonged to the SC community, three were STs and 41 were OBCs.
This article was first published on The Wire.