IIIT Ranchi Student Death: Education Ministry Sets Up Three-Member Panel

The Ministry of Education has appointed a three-member committee to examine the circumstances surrounding the death of a first-year student at the Indian Institute of Information Technology, Ranchi. The student was found unresponsive in a hostel room late on October 10.

Prof. Rajni Abbi, director of the South Campus at the University of Delhi, will lead the committee. A senior psychiatrist and an officer from the Education Ministry will also be part of the panel.

The panel will review the availability and working of basic facilities at the institute. It will also assess institutional support, counselling, mentoring and student grievance redressal arrangements.

The committee may speak with stakeholders and review relevant records and documents. It will identify gaps in the system and suggest steps to improve student well-being and reduce the risk of similar incidents.

The student’s friends became concerned when he did not open his hostel room door. They broke it down around 11.30 p.m. on October 10 and took him to a private hospital, where doctors declared him dead.

The cause of death has not been established. Police were deployed after students protested on campus, and officers are likely to question other hostel residents as part of their information-gathering.

Protesting students alleged that the hostel was poorly managed and called for the institute director to be removed. They also raised concerns about basic amenities, emergency medical support, ambulances and oxygen.

The Ministry said it is making interim administrative arrangements to keep the institute functioning smoothly while considering the interests of students. IIIT Ranchi is described by the Ministry as an institute established under the public-private partnership model.