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IIT Bombay To Provide Counselling To All Students, Regardless Of Caste Or Gender
Writer: Jayali Wavhal
She writes about gender issues, human interest, and environment.
Maharashtra, 7 Feb 2023 12:35 PM GMT
Editor : Ankita Singh |
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Creatives : Jayali Wavhal
She writes about gender issues, human interest, and environment.
A statement by IIT-Bombay details the institute's initiatives, which include a first-of-its-kind SC/ST students cell, a sensitisation course on caste-related (particularly SC/ST) issues, and The Bandhu, a self-help website created in partnership with Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS).
Mental health counsellors at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay are collaborating with an external agency that works on the mental health of marginalised individuals, including those oppressed based on caste. Affirmative counselling for marginalised communities, including SC/ST, is being taught to student mentors.
Days after the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NSCT) requested that IIT Bombay submit a report on the actions taken in response to allegations made by the Ambedkar Periyar Study Circle (APPSC), a students' collective on campus, about an absence of mental health support for SC/ST students, the institute released a statement to the media outlining the various steps taken.
“The IITB Student Wellness Centre (SWC) provides counselling to all students of IITB on mental health issues, regardless of caste, gender or other aspects. The SWC is taking steps to help all students, proactively, and whenever counselling is needed, SWC counsellors are providing it,” reads the statement.
First-Of-A-Kind Initiative For Students
The document also details the institute's initiatives, which include a first-of-its-kind SC/ST students cell, a sensitisation course on caste-related (particularly SC/ST) issues, and The Bandhu, a self-help website created in partnership with Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) to provide students with information on mental health issues.
The most recent measure is a decision made in April of last year to hold interaction sessions between IIT Bombay student counsellors and an external agency that works in the mental health aspects of marginalised groups, taking into account systemic oppressions based on caste, class, ability, age, region, gender, sexuality, and religion, reported The Indian Express. This will be a continuous process.
Responding to the APPSC's complaint from June last year that the SWC is disregarding caste-based concerns that students from reserved categories face, the NCST wrote to IIT Bombay last week, requesting information on action taken.
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