Preparing students for IITs and higher educational institutes requires a balanced approach, says Prof Murty.
Due to recent incidents at the IIT campuses across the country, the discussion on the mental wellness of students has gained momentum. Professor Budaraju Srinivasa Murty talks to indianexpress.com about rank-based discrimination, the need of coaching institutes and gender ratio in the IITs.
Q: Rank-based discrimination has been going on for years but has now come to notice after sad tragedies on IIT campuses. What measures has IIT-H taken to curb this kind of discrimination?
At IIT-H, we have a zero-tolerance policy towards any form of discrimination, including rank-based. We are committed to creating an inclusive and supportive environment where every student feels valued and respected. To curb such discrimination, we have implemented awareness programmes, sensitisation workshops, and established counselling services to address grievances. We actively promote a culture of empathy, understanding, and mutual respect among our student community.
Q: Be it OTT series or social media posts etc, IIT graduates and current students have often tried to voice their stories of struggles in Kota-based coaching institutes and other cities too. The coaching centres have been gaining traction in the past few years and the pressure has been increasing for students. What are your thoughts on this?
The stories of struggles faced by the IIT aspirants are significant, and we empathise with their experiences. We have implemented mentorship programmes, stress management initiatives, and peer support systems to help students cope with the challenges. We encourage open dialogue and actively engage with our students to address their concerns and provide necessary support. We are almost ready with an ‘Olympic size’ sports and cultural complex, which would help the students in their co-curricular activities.
Our curriculum ensures that the students earn 10 per cent of their total credits from courses in liberal arts and creative arts. This enables the students to study dance, music, painting and other art forms, and IIT-H also supports communal harmony via supporting student events such as the annual cultural and tech fest, Elan & nVision, Inter-Hostel Tournament – Milan, Inter-departmental Tournament-Diesta and many other events so that students develop interpersonal skills.
