First pan-IIT wellbeing summit begins in Guwahati, seeks to jointly address issues

Guwahati: Students, faculties and other experts from all 23 IITs got together for the first pan-IIT wellbeing summit that began at the IIT Guwahati on Friday.

The three-day long Summit seeks to exchange ideas, best practices and suggestions towards addressing the wellbeing issues of the communities in the campus in the IITs.

It seeks to build a stronger inter-IIT network and come up with a joint plan of action to address the issues, particularly mental wellbeing subjects of the communities on the campus.

"Many IITs are doing something on their own to address the issues related to wellbeing of the communities on the campus, be it through counselling or other activities. Even IIT Guwahati has also taken up several measures including on campus counselling, visits by psychiatrists and 24-hour online counselling support. But we need to have a discussion on all of these together, share the experiences and come up with something which can further improve the mechanism and the ways to address the problems of the students and overall communities in the IIT campuses. This Summit is a step in that direction," Krishna Vasmi, vice-president of IIT Guwahati's Gymkhana Club, told DH on Friday.

The summit assumes significance in view of several incidents including suicide cases inside IIT campuses. Students of IIT Guwahati even took to the streets in September 2024 following suicides by at least three students. They even alleged negligence of the wellbeing issues by the IITG authorities, prompting the institute to take more steps.