The Indian Institute of Science (IISc) in Bengaluru, one of country’s premier institute is removing ceiling fans from the institute’s hostel rooms, apparently to prevent student suicides. The move comes after four its students allegedly committed suicide in their hostel rooms since March this year.
What the institute has to say about it?
According to the Print, the IISc confirmed that ceiling fans were being removed from hostel rooms and it was done “to restrict access to any means of self-harm on the campus, which includes changing the current ceiling fans in hostel rooms”. The institute added that it was doing its best “to promote the psychological well-being of the IISc community”.
Referring to other measures taken by the institute, in an email the institute added that another “initiative was to have counsellors call individual students on campus to inquire about their well-being and this exercise has already been completed”.
Why did the institute took this step?
According to Deccan Herald, four suicides were recorded in the institute in September this year, with another two in 2020. Students told that the fan-removal drive began earlier this week at the U-Block hostel. They specified that ceiling fans are being replaced by wall-mounted fans.
While the ceiling fans are currently being removed, the plan is to replace them with table or wall-mounted fans. Though, students expressed doubtfulness that it will address the root cause of the problems i.e poor mental health support on campus.
