IIT Kharagpur's two-pronged plan to help students in distress: ‘campus mothers' & welcome committees

The Print

5 days ago

'It's a shock to me, and to all of us as teachers, that we had to lose our beloved students. I believe we need to be active, not just reactive. Often, when such incidents occur, there's a lot of noise, and steps are taken just for compliance. That approach isn't enough,' he said.
Chakraborty, who took over the charge of IIT Kharagpur last month, in an interview with ThePrint, expressed concern over cases of students suicide in IITs. This year, the institute itself has reported three cases with the most recent being reported in May.
New Delhi: The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur plans to launch an innovative initiative, 'Campus Mothers,' under which women residing on campus, both faculty and non-faculty, will be trained to provide emotional support and mentorship to distressed students, its new director Suman Chakraborty told ThePrint.
Sharing his plans to upgrade the well-being programme for students, he said that the institute has formed a 'Student Welcome Committee', which will be the foundation for a broader campus and community development programme. 'This committee's main role is to help new students and their parents settle in and feel at home on campus. They will address the major challenges new students might face,' Chakraborty said.
Under the Campus Mothers programme, the volunteers will receive training to provide emotional support and light mentorship to students in distress.
'Many of these women have experienced motherhood themselves—some have grown up children who may now be living abroad or otherwise independent. Having gone through motherhood, they understand the unique challenges children face. While it's often said that Indian parents tend to over parent, it's unrealistic to expect students to suddenly adjust in their first year of college after being closely monitored until Class 12,' the director said.
'That's why we thought of a structured approach where these 'campus mothers' can support students, especially in more challenging situations. They will receive orientation and training in counseling and related skills. Participation in this programme will be voluntary for those who wish to get involved,' he said.
Chakraborty said that these volunteer 'campus mothers' can take students who are identified as distressed and have tea, coffee, or dinner and create a community gathering where students can chat and share their concerns.
'This kind of personal interaction allows students to express themselves in ways that a mechanised chatbot simply can't match—there are limits to what technology can do. That's why we need both approaches. Technology helps because it's not scalable to have campus mothers engage with every single student individually,' he said. A detailed plan will soon be chalked out.
The IIT Kharagpur director said that the Students' Welcome Committee will launch a student engagement initiative that includes AI-based tools to monitor student well-being and provide a platform for expressing concerns. In addition, students will be encouraged to participate in activities such as sports, drama, and other extracurricular pursuits.
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More transparency in administration
When asked about last year's controversy between the administration and faculty members, Chakraborty said that the issues have been largely settled in a manner acceptable to all parties involved.
In December last year, IIT Kharagpur saw major protests by teachers after the administration issued show-cause notices to 86 faculty members. who had signed a petition demanding the withdrawal of disciplinary action against office bearers of the teachers' association.
The disciplinary action followed a letter sent by the teachers' association to the Union Education Ministry in September, accusing then-director V.K. Tiwari of 'nepotism' and 'arbitrary faculty recruitment,' among other allegations. The ministry was urged to appoint a successor with a strong academic record and experience in practicing inclusive governance.
Chakraborty said that the institute has reached a mutual understanding of the situation, recognising that some'triggering factors led to the conflict—situations ideally to be avoided'.
'I see this chapter as something we should close. As teachers, we often share anecdotes—perhaps you remember the impact Greg Chappell had on Indian cricket during his controversial coaching tenure. Even if you're not a cricket fan, that controversy distracted from the game itself. Our situation at IIT Kharagpur has been similar: discussions shifted away from academics and research, which are our core responsibilities, toward distractions,' he said.
Chakraborty said that despite all these 'distractions', their faculty, students, and staff have continued to deliver excellent results, though these achievements were somewhat overshadowed by those incidents.
'During my tenure as director, my commitment is to absolute transparency and an administration with a human touch. I want to ensure that the lessons we have learnt prevent such issues from recurring, allowing us to focus on academics and research, where we excel,' he said.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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