Professor Kanduru V. Krishna, the academic dean of IIT Guwahati, resigned from his position following a wave of widespread protests following the death of a 21-year-old B. Tech student. The administrators at IIT Guwahati accepted Krishna's resignation.
A graduate of IIT Delhi, Krishna completed his doctorate in 2006 after receiving a master's degree in mathematics from Andhra University. He has conducted research in theoretical computer science and general algebra, reported IANS.
The student's body was discovered hanging in the dorm room on Monday, prompting the start of the protest. The deceased, who was from Uttar Pradesh, attended the university to study computer science and engineering.
Student protests and demand for resignation
Protesting in front of the administration building, hundreds of students said that peer pressure in the classroom was the reason behind their fellow classmates' deaths. Alleging that the atmosphere at the institute was poisonous, the students staged a large-scale demonstration and asked that Krishna be removed from his position as dean.
A protesting student told IANS that despite getting good marks in the examination, many students failed due to short attendance. "In our batch, at least 200 students failed due to low attendance. This is unacceptable. One or two students might have done something wrong, but such a huge number of pupils can not be found on the wrong foot," he told IANS, adding that the administration of IIT-Guwahati has created a toxic environment in the name of academic pressure.
A police and IIT-Guwahati investigation into the student's death has been initiated in the interim. In addition, a number of mental health initiatives were launched to support students in managing their stress.
With inputs from IANS
