Hyderabad: Premier universities like the University of Hyderabad and the English and Foreign Language University have seen a spate of student suicides in recent times.
Seven students committed suicide for different reasons inside these two campuses in the last three semesters. Varsity officials are being blamed for ‘institutional failure’ leading to suicides as they failed to fulfil the academic needs of students and discriminated against students from marginalised sections.
Though the authorities set up internal committees after such incidents, to probe the reasons and find solutions, both universities failed to implement measures to curb suicides.
Students say that these incidents could have been prevented if the administration took a serious view of the issue. “The main reasons for suicides are university authorities neglecting students’ academic needs and personal problems like love failures. They can be resolved if officials put in some extra effort,” said C.T. Jawhar, a sociology Ph.D scholar from UoH.
Meanwhile, the UoH has not set up an official counselling centre, while the one at Eflu is not functioning properly.
“IITs and IIMs have counselling centres with 24x7 assistance. There are mechanisms through which the students with suicidal tendencies are assisted,” said K. Vincent, another PhD scholar. The students also blamed the authorities for ignoring the findings of the internal panels on suicides.
“UoH set up panels after suicides. But, when they identify issues and recommend action, the officials ignore them,” said Prashant, a PhD scholar.
After Monday’s suicide, the VC of UoH has again made promises to look into the real issues and implement effective measures. However, students feel that after a month, the officials will ignore their problems.
