Nashik, India – As Sanjay Nerkar returns from his workplace in Nashik, a small city in India’s Maharashtra state, he waits virtually instinctively for a cellphone name – one he is aware of won’t ever come.
For practically a decade, whereas his son, Varad Nerker, lived away from house for research, he referred to as his father at nightfall.
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“Regardless of how busy he was, he would say, papa, bas awaaz sunni thi [I just wanted to hear your voice],” recollects the 55-year-old authorities worker.
That routine between the son and the daddy broke two years in the past.
In 2022, Varad achieved the dream he had spoken about since childhood: Admission to one of many 23 Indian Institute of Know-how (IIT) faculties throughout India, together with the seven legacy IITs, established earlier than 2000 and seen as essentially the most prestigious.
Varad joined the grasp’s programme at IIT-Delhi – one of many unique seven within the nationwide capital.
“He didn’t get a BTech there, however he refused to surrender,” Nerkar says. When the MTech end result got here, the household distributed sweets. “It felt just like the dream belonged to all of us.”
After which his voice breaks. “If I had recognized what IIT-Delhi would take away from me, I might by no means have despatched him,” he instructed Al Jazeera, his voice softening. “Oh, Varad… Why did you allow so early?”
On February 15, 2024, Varad died by what IIT-Delhi termed a suicide – one amongst 65 pupil suicides throughout the IITs and the eighth at IIT-Delhi since 2021.
Varad was 26. Solely days earlier, he had instructed his mom about intense educational stress and alleged strain from his supervisor.
Why IITs maintain weight
In India, admission to an IIT symbolises educational excellence and social status.
In 2025, about 1.3 million highschool graduates took the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Important, a computer-based screening of candidates carried out by India’s Nationwide Testing Company twice a yr.
Solely about 250,000 qualify for the following spherical, referred to as JEE Superior, the ultimate spherical of screening to compete for less than 18,000 Bachelors in Know-how (BTech) seats on the IITs, that are allotted based mostly on rank, class, and preferences.
For MTech programmes, 800,000 to 1,000,000 candidates seem for the Graduate Aptitude Take a look at in Engineering (GATE) yearly, with about 8,500 securing admission – a mean of 1 in 72 for BTech and one in 117 for MTech programs.
The variety of PhD seats at IITs varies every year and is dependent upon open slots with a professor.
Over the many years, the IITs have produced distinguished figures corresponding to Google CEO Sundar Pichai and IBM CEO Arvind Krishna, together with greater than 35 Indian billionaires – and even a number of main politicians, writers and journalists.
In accordance with 6figr.com, an AI-driven profession information platform, the typical wage of an IIT graduate working in america ranges between $216,000 and $235,000 yearly, practically 4 instances the nationwide common wage within the US.
Dheeraj Singh is the founding father of International IIT-IIM Alumni Assist Group, which not solely helps the scholars with placements, but additionally works on their psychological wellbeing and supporting the bereaved households. IIM refers back to the Indian Institute of Administration, one other premier chain of state-run faculties.
“Being an IITian is not only a tag; it brings respect to the whole household,” Singh instructed Al Jazeera.
But, there may be one other aspect to the IIT story, largely missed, however one which retains recurring with an alarming frequency.
‘They took my solely son away’
Regardless of their repute for tutorial excellence and profitable careers, life on the IITs can also be typically marked by intense strain and relentless competitors.
Whereas the institutes spotlight document placements yearly, many graduates are left with out jobs. In 2024, about 38 % of IIT graduates went unplaced, in keeping with the institutes’ information – a actuality specialists say is usually missed to protect institutional status.
“IITs publicise high placements however seldom speak concerning the different aspect. Almost half the scholars battle throughout placements,” stated Singh.
Expectations, he explains, are huge. “When educational strain combines with placement stress, the scenario turns into extraordinarily critical.”
Singh recalled a pupil at IIT-Kanpur – one other top-seven campus – who contacted his help group fearing unemployment: “He stated, ‘If I don’t get positioned, I’ll finish my life.’ Regardless of our efforts, he later died by suicide,” stated Singh.
In accordance with information shared by Singh, compiled from authorities officers and varied IITs, 160 pupil suicide deaths have been recorded throughout the IITs prior to now twenty years – 69 of them within the final 5 years.
Amongst them was Darshan Solanki, a vivid 20-year-old who had dreamt of an IIT diploma since his childhood.
His father, Ramesh, a plumber in Ahmedabad, the biggest metropolis within the western Gujarat state, says Darshan cleared the IIT entrance check in 2022. However he didn’t get his most well-liked department of engineering and tried once more the following yr. In 2023, he joined the chemical engineering course at IIT-Bombay, because the institute in India’s monetary capital remains to be referred to as regardless of the town being renamed to Mumbai in 1995.
“That was the happiest day of my life. I cried, and Darshan instructed me, ‘Papa, I’ve finished it. Our life now will change into simpler.’ He wished me to depart plumbing as soon as he obtained a great job,” Solanki instructed Al Jazeera. “I had by no means imagined he wouldn’t even end his research.”
Solanki stated his son Darshan typically spoke about being mocked by the individuals at IIT-Bombay – together with his roommate – over his caste background. Most Hindus are categorised into 4 “varnas” (courses), a inflexible social hierarchy that defines their social place and occupation, typically resulting in discrimination and violence in opposition to lower-ranked teams.
The Solankis are Dalits, who fall within the least privileged caste hierarchy and have been thought of “untouchable” till a regulation banned the follow.
“We belong to a decrease caste. Why ought to that matter? The humiliation affected my son deeply, after which got here the tutorial strain. How can a 20-year-old bear each psychological harassment and research?” Solanki requested.
He alleged the IIT authorities blamed his son for not dealing with educational strain.
“They stated he wasn’t adequate, however how may that be when he had cracked the IIT twice? He was good, my greatest son,” he stated as he broke into tears. “They took my solely son away from me.”
Singh of the International IIT-IIM Alumni Assist Group agreed that caste-based discrimination stays prevalent on the IITs and that many reported suicides contain college students from marginalised communities.
Authorities information helps the priority: Of the 122 college students on the IITs, IIMs, central universities and different federally-funded institutes who died by suicide between 2014 and 2021, 24 belonged to what are formally known as Scheduled Castes, three belonged to the Scheduled Tribes class, and 41 have been members of different backward castes (OBCs) – a complete of 68 college students, or about 55 % of the overall suicides reported at these campuses, regardless of a decrease illustration of scholars from the least privileged caste teams.
‘Energy imbalance’
Consultants and college students on the IITs have additionally repeatedly flagged an influence imbalance, primarily between PhD students and their supervisors. Fellowships, which, amongst different issues, imply monetary help, cease after 5 years, forcing college students to complete inside that interval.
“When funding ends, often across the age of 30, the uncertainty turns into deeply distressing,” Sushant*, a doctoral pupil at IIT-Kanpur, instructed Al Jazeera. “The supervisor controls whether or not the thesis is authorised, making us fully depending on one particular person. Many supervisors are poisonous, and this traumatises college students and might push them in the direction of suicide.”
Lately, IIT authorities introduced that PhD students unable to finish their thesis inside seven years may face termination of their admission and their PhD candidature withdrawn.
The latest suicide at IIT-Kanpur concerned PhD scholar Ramswroop Ishram, who in January this yr died by suicide on the hostel the place he lived together with his spouse and two-year-old daughter.
College students protested the identical night time, asking for explanations from the authorities. However nobody got here to satisfy them. “We wish accountability,” stated Sushant.
The same case occurred at IIT-Madras in March 2023 when PhD scholar Sachin Kumar Jain died by suicide.
An investigation discovered that educational strain from his supervisor contributed to the demise. The involved college member was suspended, and no suicides have been reported on the campus since.
Singh referred to as the motion commendable, however lamented that different IITs didn’t comply with swimsuit, highlighting widespread accountability gaps regardless of a rising variety of suicides.
Al Jazeera made a number of cellphone calls and despatched emails to the IIT authorities, however didn’t get any response.
Fixing accountability
S Ravindra Bhat, a former Supreme Courtroom decide, is the chairman of a Nationwide Job Drive on Psychological Well being, which was arrange a yr in the past on the highest court docket’s instructions to deal with psychological well being issues, suicide prevention, and to create a “uniform, enforceable framework” for pupil wellbeing in larger academic establishments, together with the IITs.
He instructed Al Jazeera the scenario was “deeply troubling”, noting that his process power has acquired hundreds of complaints and picked up preliminary information that’s but to be positioned earlier than the authorities and the court docket. He stated the suicide disaster has a structural dimension and is partly rooted in broader social realities however largely throughout the establishments.
Singh stated the IITs “can and will do way more” to forestall such deaths, accusing the tech faculties of typically distancing themselves from duty after a suicide, which does little to scale back the frequency of such incidents. He famous two widespread responses from the IITs: If a pupil was doing nicely academically, the demise was blamed on “private points” corresponding to tensions with the household or different relationships. If the coed was struggling, the suicide was attributed to an lack of ability to deal with competitors.
In each instances, he stated, accountability is sidestepped.
Singh stated numerous suicides happen round examinations, pointing in the direction of educational strain and stress as contributing components. Quite than shifting blame, he urged institutes to step in and work on preventive options.
Consultants say suicides on the IITs are preventable and will be decreased by means of well timed intervention.
Aqsa Sheikh, a physician and a member of the Nationwide Job Drive on Scholar Suicide Prevention, instructed Al Jazeera that whereas the IITs have appointed psychological well being counsellors, their efforts fall brief of what’s required.
“There must be larger accountability and proactive intervention. College students beneath extreme stress are unlikely to hunt assistance on their very own. Institutes should establish them and make the primary transfer. I’m not saying they’re doing nothing, however rather more is anticipated,” she stated.
Singh agreed, including that his small help group has counselled lots of of IIT college students on the verge of breakdown resulting from educational and private stress.
“If a small organisation like ours can do that, why can’t the IITs?” he stated. “The problem just isn’t assets however intent, and the desire to forestall suicides.”
