– Mita Mukherjee

Suman Chakraborty, a professor of mechanical engineering department of IIT-Kharagpur, who has been appointed as the new full-term director of the institute on June 19 said his priority as the new head is to chalk out a comprehensive plan to check the rising number of student deaths on the campus.

Chakraborty (51), an alumnus of Jadavpur University who will take charge shortly, said the institute will develop a new model which will be a combination of technology and human touch to create a supportive and safer environment on the campus.

“Preventing the increasing number of suicides among students is one of the most complex challenges at the institute at present. Our priority area will be to foster a culture on the campus that can significantly impact on students’ well-being,” Chakraborty told EducationWorld.

Kharagpur-IIT is an institute that offers world- class education and attracts brightest students. Three students have committed suicide at the IIT within a span of four months between January and May this year.

Last month the institute set up a ten- member committee to probe the spate of student deaths and find out measures to ensure well-being of students.

“Kharagpur IIT like other IITs ensures excellent career prospects of every student. Students completing the courses from this institute can achieve great heights. But one has to live a long life to reach the goals. My target as the new head will be to ensure that there is not a single student death on the campus in the next one year,” the new director said.

Apart from boosting the regular counselling by professional experts, the institute will prepare a mechanism using technology combined with human intervention to explore the mental condition of students.

“I have been teaching in this institute for many years and I am aware about the problem. We can use technology to address the crisis, but at the same we need to assess students’ problems with empathy and compassion. We know that mother’s have the capacity to understand the feelings of young children from their intuition. We have many families staying on our campus. We can engage mothers staying here to interact with students on regular basis to understand their problem,” Chakraborty said. Persistent negative thinking often leads to a situation when students take the drastic step to end life.

Chakraborty said the institute will consider proposals to engage students in different activities like social outreach programmes which can prevent them from indulging in negative thoughts and encourage them to think positive.

“Now that the NEP 2020 is already implemented, it is possible to introduce more project-based learning and skill development programme in our curriculum as per th recommendation of the policy,” he said.

In addition to curbing suicides, Chakraborty said emphasis will be given on shaping the future of the institute’s medical college, improving the livelihood and economy of the underdeveloped rural areas surrounding the institute and increasing global visibility of the institute, other than ranking, through a more structured way in coordination with the large number of the institute alumni settled across the world.

Chakraborty has recently been honoured with the 2026 TWAS Award in Engineering and Computer Sciences by UNESCO and The World Academy of Sciences, a testimony to his contributions to micro and nanoscale flows which have led to transformative innovations in diagnostic technologies, improving rural healthcare access and enhancing livelihoods for marginalised communities.

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