There is No Painting without a Canvas

The demand for Indian talent is skyrocketing in the global arena. The students enrolled in IITs and IIMs are exposed to cut-throat competition and academic stress. The mental strain and subsequent predicaments on a broader scale are an alarming time bomb. As many as 33 students at various Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) alone from across the country have died by suicide since 2018. National Institutes of Technology (NITs) reported 24 such deaths in this period, while the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMS) reported four such deaths. A couple of months ago, a second-year management

student allegedly died by suicide at the Indian Institute of Management Ranchi(IIM–Ranchi).

Responding to a query in Parliament, Minister of State for Education Subhas cited academic stress, family and personal reasons, and mental health issues as reasons for the deaths. Regardless of the reasons, academic institutes have a collective responsibility to check and double check the well-being of students. Well, it doesn’t necessarily mean that the elite educational institutions in the country don’t bat an eye toward this agonizing predicament. They do. For instance, IIM Ranchi hosted a successful human library. Originating in Denmark in 2000, Human Library’ offers an opportunity for individuals to engage in meaningful conversations and learn from one another’s experiences person to person. Additionally, the Central Institute of Psychiatry(CIP),Ranchi and IIM Ranchi recently signed an MoU to promote wellness by extending clinical and counseling services at the business school campus. While these initiatives fuel the mitigation, the institutes must make it a priority as important as academics to produce meaningful impacts. Remember,without the canvases, there are no paintings!