StatesJharkhand
Education Ministry sets up panel to look into IIIT Ranchi student's death
First-year student Aditya Kumar died on Saturday. His classmates, protesting for a third day, want the director removed and say help came too late.
Key points
- A three-member panel led by Prof Rajni Abbi of Delhi University will examine the death.
- Students protested for a third straight day and want Director Rajeev Srivastava removed.
- They say they pay about ₹4 lakh a year but lack basic facilities and emergency care.
The Union Ministry of Education has set up a three-member committee to look into the death of Aditya Kumar, a first-year student at the Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) Ranchi, as students kept up their protest on the campus for a third day on Tuesday.
Aditya, from Bhagalpur district in Bihar, was found unconscious in his hostel room on Saturday and died on the way to hospital. Police are investigating. His fellow students allege that the institute was slow to respond and that he might have been saved with timely medical help.
The committee is chaired by Prof Rajni Abbi, Director of the University of Delhi’s South Campus, and includes a senior psychiatrist and a senior official of the ministry. It will examine the circumstances of the death and how well the institute follows guidelines on basic facilities, student support, counselling, mentoring and grievance redressal. It has been asked to identify gaps and recommend steps to protect students’ well-being. The ministry has also put interim administrative arrangements in place to keep the institute running.
Students gathered again on Tuesday at the hostel premises in Khelgaon Housing Society. They want Director Prof Rajeev Srivastava removed and better hostel facilities, and have listed complaints about canteen food, hostel security and CCTV coverage, and what they call inadequate lifts, ambulances, power supply and oxygen support. They say they pay about ₹4 lakh a year in tuition and other charges.
On Monday, the chairman of the Board of Governors, Lt Gen A K Bhatt (retd), met the students along with the director and faculty. The students held to their demands and have warned that they will step up the protest if nothing concrete follows.