Full-time psychiatrist will be appointed very soon, says IIT Kharagpur Director

Kolkata: A day after the Supreme Court raised concerns over instances of student suicides, IIT Kharagpur Director Suman Chakraborty on Tuesday said the premier institute will appoint a full-time psychiatrist very soon to attend to any crisis faced

by students. On Monday, the Supreme Court raised questions over the instances of suicides, at IIT Kharagpur, besides Sharda University in Greater Noida, directing the investigation in both cases to “proceed expeditiously”. On the incident over the suicide of a fourth-year mechanical engineering student, the Supreme Court bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and R Mahadevan had asked the IIT Kharagpur counsel: “What is wrong with your IIT Kharagpur? Why students are committing suicide? Have you given a thought to this problem? What steps have you taken?” Asked about follow-up steps in response to the SC judgement, Chakraborty told a news agency: “We will be appointing a new full-time psychiatrist within the next few days.

“Besides, we will be introducing motivational lecture series for all the students which will also help those under any stress and tension to overcome anxieties,” he said. The institute had a counselling service for 24x7 for students in any distress, but these were handled by part-time counsellors from the existing stakeholders, institute spokesperson said.

The director had earlier said that IIT Kharagpur will speak to parents of students every alternate month to urge them not to subject their wards to extra

pressure.