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NCP SP leader Anish Gawande cited grim statistics regarding student suicides across the country, following the alleged suicide of IIT-Bombay student Sahil Ravindra Wakode, saying that the death by suicide cases have now outnumbered farmer suicides.
Speaking to ANI on Monday, Gawande slammed the response of IIT Bombay to replace hostel ceiling fans with wall fans as a safety measure, questioning the approach of premier institutions toward student welfare. "It is absurd that we have reduced student suicides in this country to a joke. After the death of a young student in IIT Bombay, what was the institution's response? Replace ceiling fans with wall fans. Is that going to solve the problem?" he asked. He noted that 171 IIT students have died by suicide over the last 20 years, while 14,500 students died by suicide in 2024 alone. "171 IIT students have died by suicide over the last 20 years. 14,500 students have died by suicide in 2024 alone. That means that student suicides today outnumber farmer suicides in this country. And yet, the response is always knee-jerk. You've seen the politicisation of this issue; you've seen the sort of decrying of reservations on this issue, that a culture of merit is being quashed at IIT Bombay as a response to this issue," he said. Gawande emphasised that there is a major underlying issue driving students to take such drastic steps. He alleged that there has been an issue of caste discrimination on the IIT campuses. "No young person takes their own life just because they were caught cheating. Clearly, there's a bigger problem at play over here. We know that caste discrimination is a problem on IIT campuses; we know that the pressure that young students face is a problem at IIT campuses. So many of the other students who have died by suicide come from a wide variety of backgrounds," he said. "So instead of arriving at solutions to this issue, the politicisation that you're seeing with this issue is condemnable, and strict action needs to be taken against all those involved in such an incident. And until an inquiry is finalised, no results should be published," he added. Further, he slammed the institution for publishing details of the incident before verification of the claims of any cheating or the professors responsible in the case. "IIT Bombay was wrong when they published details of this suicide before an official investigation has taken place. Until we can verify that cheating took place, how it took place, why it took place, and which professors were responsible, commenting on the specifics of this case is entirely improper by anybody involved," he said. BJP leader Boora Narsaiah Goud expressed deep grief over the death of the IIT Bombay student, while criticising the Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) for allegedly disturbing the higher education system on the lines of caste, religion, and regionalism. "What happened at IIT Bombay is very sad, and we extend our sympathies to the deceased's family. At the same time it is the duty of any teacher or invigilator to see that the exam is conducted in a fair manner. Unfortunately, because of the hybrid leaders like Rahul Gandhi and CJP, the entire atmosphere in higher educational institutes has been disturbed on the lines of caste, religion, and regionalism. It is not good for the country. We wish an extensive investigation is taken and nobody should be made a scapegoat for political reasons," he said. Earlier on Monday, the uncle and aunt of the deceased demanded a CBI inquiry into his alleged suicide. IIT Bombay Faculty Forum staged a campus march to support Professor Suryanarayana Doolla, who has been suspended from the deanship of IIT Bombay. Sahil Wakode, a student from the Department of Energy Science and Engineering, died by suicide on Friday. In an earlier statement issued on September 19, IIT Bombay had alleged that the student was caught cheating in an examination. However, the institute issued a formal apology retracting its earlier characterisations of the incident. The father of the deceased student levelled serious allegations of harassment in the complaint, saying that the professor hurled casteist slurs at the student over the last three months. (ANI)
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