IIT Delhi’s director warned of disciplinary actions against students disrupting campus peace

IIT Delhi’s director warned of disciplinary actions against students disrupting campus peace.

On that night, from 10.30pm to 12.30am, a group of protesters extended their agitation into the campus residential zones, staging demonstrations directly in front of faculty housing and resorting to unsavoury, humiliating and threatening language in their slogans.

The director said he had spent a “reasonable amount of time” with students on the first day of the protest to understand the issues. “We are committed to making changes so that our system improves,” he said. Students have round-the-clock access to mental-health services through counsellors, along with psychiatric support, according to it.

NEW DELHI: After a midnight march by IIT Delhi students Thursday as part of their ongoing protest following a postgraduate scholar’s death on the premises, director Rangan Banerjee sent a mail to all students around 5pm Friday, stating that the institute will take disciplinary actions against individuals disrupting the peaceful functioning of the campus, including residential areas, classes, academic and other activities. Referring to the incident, Banerjee wrote in the email, “Unfortunately, the situation escalated significantly on the night of Thursday. He added, “Such behaviour compromises the safety, privacy and peace of faculty members and their families, including young children and elderly dependents. “This incident is a wake-up call for everyone and we have scaled up our counselling and created an academic group, but clearly whatever we are doing is not enough. We need different approaches. We need to work together with our students. Mechanisms are also in place for emergency intervention and referral for specialised care, when required. The institute has also cited mentorship and peer-support initiatives intended to give students multiple avenues to seek assistance.

“We had committed to a set of specific steps based on discussions with the student representatives and other students. The external inquiry committee has started functioning. The institute’s support for the family from the benevolent fund has been approved and the separate fund with voluntary contributions from faculty, students and staff has been created.