Student`s death triggers violence in IIT, Dir house attacked

Student's death triggers violence in IIT Kharagpur; Director resigns

Updated on Sunday, March 22, 2009, 00:00 IST

Kharagpur, March 22: The death of a third-year student sparked off violence in the IIT Kharagpur campus on Sunday as angry students attacked the residence of Director Damodar Acharya who later said he was "resigning" owning moral responsibility after Institute doctors were accused of medical negligence.

Acharya, whose house was damaged by agitating students following the death of Rohit Kumar, a third-year Electrical Engineering student, earlier in the day said before the media tonight that he was "resigning".

The Director's move came as he rejected the students' demand to suspend the Superintendent of IIT-run hospital for alleged negligence leading to the death of Kumar and maintained that an inquiry panel should first probe the incident before any action could be taken.

Police cordoned off the Director's residence and personnel of Rapid Action Force were also deployed to avoid a flare up as the students laid siege protesting the death of their mate.

Police said Kumar, who had a history of epilepsy, was admitted to B C Roy Hospital in the campus after he met with an accident two days ago.

Kumar, who hailed from Patna and was a resident of Lala Lajpat Roy hostel of the premier institution, died while being shifted to Midnapore Medical College and Hospital.

Alleging that a doctor did not accompany the sick student and he had been left unattended till 9 am today, angry students gheraoed the residence of the Director, within the campus, broke window panes and damaged his car parked infront.

The Director and his family members were safe.

While Acharya, flanked by students, announced before the media having handed over charge to Deputy Director Madhusudan Chakraborty, IIT sources, however, said the director or any member of faculty could only resign after communicating to the Board of Governors.

The Deputy Director, IIT-K Registrar, Dean-Alumni Association and the SDO, Kharagpur, were still holding talks with the students to end the impasse.

Bureau Report

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This is a sad day for all IIT`s The callous attitude shown by the Director and the administration is most shameful.Also the way the news has been covered by the channels is regrettable -Student IIT Roorkee -

i feel the students had done a good thing. as i know the condition of hospital in IIT kgp. Dr a p g abdul kalam had donated money for the development of the hospital but no interest was shown by the director. there are many cases in the history of B C Roy hospital where you can find that the death of many people directly or indirectly related happened due to lack of facilities provided in the hospital. the doctors in the hospital doesn`t have the caliber to detect the problem which the patient is facing. i suppose because of this act a revolution should come in the condition of the hospital -sandip nair - bangalore

One may suffer from a serious illness and may have to be near an Apollo Hospital to cure that particular disease. You might roam around in IIT campuses. I at least know the condition of IIT Kanpur Health Center. They could not detect a fracture and the student was suffering for months before she went to the hospital outside. I alone can give about 5 examples of CARELESSNESS at IIT Kanpur Health Center and as far as I know nothing substantial is done. -IITK Alumnus - Kanpur

I feel the IIT students have shown their haste and ill-decision. They have to understand that this unlucky student probably had a rare severe neurological problem (hemorrage or aneurysm), which required services of an expert neurologist with advanced equipment which is beyond the capacity of an IIT clinic, even if it was well equipped. If such things suddenly happen you had better be near an Apollo hospital. You can hardly expect a 20 bed clinic to have CT scan and the associated experts to operate and interpret the results. It appears that the initial symptoms were similar to epilepsy and doctors are trained to act to such symptoms. That too, a clinic like this cannot attract highly trained medical specialists but only MBBS doctors. The most the doctor could have done was to direct the student be taken to a big hospital, that that also cannot be done immediately without watching for worsening symptoms. -sumitra - delhi

What is most astonishing is the way the administration tried to curb the movement of the students. The internet and the LAN in the college had also been cut off. The news article presents a one sided view of the police force & the administration. -Student - IIT Kharagpur

This news is totally one sided. It seems that you have pictured students as some kind of criminals. The students didn`t go ballistic as first response. The protests were made when the management took the issue lightly. What exactly did you mean by ``The Director and his family members were safe`` did you think that students are gonna hurt the directer and his family. -Student - IIT Kharagpur - Kharagpur

The director smirked and says``whats the big deal``. Damn a life is lost due to negligence and our friend is no more. And you have to write this that ``the director`s family was safe !!``. Show some good coverage! -student, - iit kharagpur

How can you write this. Students are not criminals that they will kill the director. What do you mean by `Director`s family is safe`. The IIT-Run hospital didn`t have basic medical facilities. The ambulance had an oxygen cylinder whose knob was off when rohit was taken to kolkota. The ambulance was not fit for rohit and he was carried diagonally. He was dead of just a small head injury which could be cured of if properly attended. Ask the Director, where are 97 crore rupees of fund given to IIT-KGP last year by govt? Ask the director, does he take his family for check-up to this IIT-Run Hospital? No he goes to kolkota. And you are sayign he is safe. An IITian is dead. The most responsible person of the family is dead and his parents are crying not only because he is dead but he is dead of just a small injury. What do we do? Please show some good coverage. -abc - kharagpur

Your report is flawed. It shows more concern for Director`s personal well fare than reporting about our classmate`s death and its cause. Remove such flawed report. You shud have come in the open meeting called last night and saw the reality urself.. -Sachu - IIT Kgp

To whomsoever it may concern, Please show the real truth on your network and tell people about it : http://209.97.214.175/~scholars/wordpress/ This is the link to IIT KGP news paper. Thank You. -rahul -

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