In a major announcement a week after the death of a Dalit student on its campus, IIT-Bombay said that it is working out changes in the under-graduate curriculum starting from the 2022 batch, here on Saturday.
IIT-B Director Prof. Subhasis Chaudhuri said the changes are being affected to make the UG curriculum ‘more relevant and motivating’ to the students, besides to reduce some of the stress on the scholars.
Chaudhuri also sought participation and suggestions towards this aim from the students and colleagues (faculty) as there was surely more room for improvement’, “to ensure that such an unfortunate incident never happens”.
The IIT-B Director said this in a communication addressed to the students and colleagues after an F.Y. B. Tech. course student Darshan Solanki, 18, of Ahmedabad ended his life on the campus on February 12, sparking a nationwide furore in top educational institutions.
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Chaudhuri said that along with the Mumbai Police, the IIT-B has also started its own investigation into the environment/incidents/reasons behind Solanki’s tragedy.
The IIT-B has appointed a senior professor and its former Chief Vigilance Officer heading a committee comprising SC/ST student cell members comprising faculty and students, some student mentor coordinators, and the In-Charge CMO of the campus hospital.
He said that this committee is actively meeting everyone who might have worthwhile information and also appealed to others having any more stuff to reach out to the panel probing Solanki’s death case.
The Mumbai Police have spoken with a large number of people, have taken Solanki’s phone and laptop for forensic analysis, details of which are awaited, and a team had also gone to meet his family near Ahmedabad earlier this week.
Referring to certain media reports on Solanki’s death as ‘premature’, Chaudhuri pointed out that the matter is sub-judice and so they could not comment on the causes (of death) until either the Mumbai Police or the internal probe report is ready.
The IIT-B Director reiterated the existing support mechanisms on the campus which students could access for any issues including discrimination, and the information about the SC/ST students’ cell is also given as part of the new student orientation for both students and their parents.
“We are working actively to create an inclusive campus where all students feel at home. On the first day when students enter IIT, during their formal orientation, we give strong warnings against any discrimination. We also sensitise all students to not seek proxy information such as ranks in entrance exams. We have a very strict policy on discrimination by faculty,” assured Chaudhuri.
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