“He scored above 7 CGPA, was academically on track”: IIT Bombay director says institute shaken by student death
A committee set up by the Union Education Ministry in the aftermath of the student death on the IIT Kanpur campus last month may also reach out to IIT Bombay officials in the wake of Wednesday’s tragedy, The Indian Express has learnt.
Family members of the IIT Bombay student who died after falling from the hostel building came to check the dead body at Rajawadi Hospital morgue on Wednesday evening.
(Express Photo by Amit Chakravarty)
Naman Agarwal, the 21-year-old second-year BTech (Civil Engineering) student who died after a fall from a hostel building on the IIT Bombay campus on Wednesday morning, was doing well academically and was on track with his coursework, IIT Bombay Director Prof. Shireesh Kedare told The Indian Express.
The institute, he added, is shaken by the incident, and there is no way to know what may have happened “in the spur of the moment”.
Prof. Kedare was present at the Rajawadi Hospital mortuary to attend to Agarwal’s grieving family members.
“In the recent semester examination his score was above 7 CGPA, which is considered a good academic record. I paid a visit to the Civil Engineering department where he was a student. This academic session began just in January and he has already submitted three lab projects indicating that he was not lagging behind in academic commitments. It is very unfortunate and there is no way to know what happened in the spur of the moment,” he said, highlighting that there was no academic pressure.
Police said that as part of their questioning, they found that Agarwal had been consulting a doctor for his mental health. A police officer told this newspaper the circumstances behind it would become clearer only after the statement of the campus doctor treating him is recorded.
Meanwhile, Prof. Kedare said IIT Bombay was already taking steps to ensure mental health support is readily available to students on campus. One such initiative is the introduction of faculty advisors for small groups of students, with the idea that every student has a faculty member they can connect with on academic or non-academic matters.
“Just last week we had finalised on having a training workshop next week for faculty advisors with senior professionals from the field of psychology on how to connect with students. I had also prepared a list of probable talking points that faculty advisors can use to strike conversation with students. Although the original plan was to begin with faculty advisors for the first year students, and then extend it further to faculty advisors of senior classes, we have now decided to hold these sessions for all once,” Prof. Kedare said.
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He added that the institute had recently observed a mental strength week in January. He pointed out that this was in addition to the continuous support provided through the Student Wellness Centre (SWC) and other initiatives.
Kedare said that while the institute has always been interacting with first-year students, it has now begun interactive sessions with all existing students, irrespective of course and class. “Some come for these sessions, some don’t. The idea is to continue the interactions which are aimed at ensuring that the students do not feel stress,” he said.
Apart from initiatives targeted at students, Prof. Kedare said IIT Bombay was also taking steps to educate parents on mental health and emotional stress. “We hold sessions with parents to help them understand campus life and to counsel them to keep academics aside for a while once their wards enter the campus. We suggest they talk to students on happy topics and about how they are proud of them, rather than questioning marks at every call,” he said.
Meanwhile, a committee set up by the Union Education Ministry in the aftermath of the student death on the IIT Kanpur campus last month may also reach out to IIT Bombay officials in the wake of Wednesday’s tragedy, The Indian Express has learnt.
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“We have already held five meetings online in which we have spoken to institute directors, counsellors, deans. We will visit the IIT Kanpur campus too soon. Our recommendations will not be limited to IIT Kanpur but the whole IIT ecosystem. We will also reach out to IIT Bombay if need be,” said a committee member, on the condition of anonymity.
Pallavi Smart is a Principal Correspondent with The Indian Express, Mumbai Bureau. Her reporting is singularly focused on the education sector, demonstrating exceptional Expertise and Authority across the entire spectrum of learning, from foundational schooling to advanced higher education. She is a highly Trustworthy source for policy, institutional developments, and systemic issues affecting students, teachers, and parents in Maharashtra.
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Senior Role: As a Principal Correspondent at The Indian Express, her designation reflects her seniority, specialized knowledge, and the editorial rigor applied to her reporting.
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Policy and Regulatory Changes: Reports on major shifts in educational policy, including the restructuring of entrance exams (e.g., MHT-CET adopting the JEE Main model), the draft regulatory framework for coaching classes, and revised teacher recruitment processes.
Higher Education Institutions (HEIs): Provides in-depth reporting on prestigious institutes like IIT Bombay and TISS (Tata Institute of Social Sciences), covering institutional initiatives, administrative debates (e.g., renaming IIT Bombay), and student welfare programs (e.g., mandatory mental health courses).
Teachers and Eligibility: Covers crucial issues affecting the teaching fraternity, such as the mandatory Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) for in-service teachers and related controversies and application numbers.
Student Welfare & Rights: Focuses on issues concerning students, including the rollout of government scholarships, the financial strain on schools due to midday meal reimbursement delays, and instances of child rights violations (e.g., the Powai studio hostage crisis).
Admissions and Vacancy: Tracks the outcome of centralized admission processes (e.g., MBBS, BPharm) and analyzes vacancy concerns, providing essential data-driven insights for parents and students.
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