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Student organisations call LSR student suicide an institutional murder

Mon, 09 Nov 2020 10:36:36 +0000

Image Courtesy:moneycontrol.com

Lady Shri Ram College’s Student Union (LSRSU) and the Students Federation of India (SFI) on November 9, 2020 have alleged that institutional negligence that led to the death by suicide of a second-year Mathematics student. The girl had died by suicide citing financial distress.

The LSR student was due for the INSPIRE scholarship given by the Union Ministry of Science and Technology. However, following the pandemic lockdown, the girl became one of many students who suffered from delayed scholarship, pending fees and a growing digital divide.

LSR alumni and Joint Secretary of SFI-Delhi Mounica Sreesai said many student organisations had planned a physical protest on Monday to demand justice for the deceased’s family and other students who suffer from a similar situation.

They demanded the disbursal of all pending scholarships along with those due to the deceased girl’s family as her parents were worried about educating their second daughter in the absence of a steady salary during the pandemic. Further they demanded due compensation to the family and the resignation of the Minister of Science and Technology Harsh Vardhan.

“Education is a basic fundamental right. Government is responsible for the education of all, not just a few. The responsibility of this incident lies with the nexus of institutions which is why we called this an institutional murder. They need to be held responsible. Mere days after the incident, the college sent a notification about fee payment on November 7. There’s no sense of remorse or guilt on their part. They do not care about students nor about their education,” said Sreesai.

Organisations also demanded creation of a committee that would look into similar issues concerning inaccessibility to education, accountability from the college and Delhi University regarding the incident along with an assurance of providing basic necessities for online education.

Lastly, they also demanded a withdrawal of the hostel vacation in LSR, an administrative decision that bothered the girl in question.

Elaborating on this last demand, LSRSU General Secretary Unnimaya talked about the persisting demands of LSR students since June 2019 against the conversion of the college hostel into a first-year residence. According to Unnimaya, this in itself was a violation of the Delhi University Act that provides hostel services to all students.

“Students called it an anti-student policy. But we were not heard. Instead, we were restricted from mobilising by making us sign a clause that said we will not participate in any protest,” she said.

To make matters worse, the college decided to enforce the new law by November 10 while most students were struggling to overcome the pandemic-induced obstacles. The mathematics student’s mother said her daughter often voiced her worries about the sudden removal from the hostel.

“After returning home because of the pandemic, she told us that she would require Rs. 30,000 to Rs. 40,000 to vacate the hostel, find a new place of residence and then return home. We already had no source of income during the lockdown and could not give her the money,” said her mother.

Money was a frequent topic in the house. The girl had considered switching to a local college for education but was loath to do so because she was the first one in her village and community to go to Delhi for education. She told her mother she would become a laughing stock if she gave up her education.

Her parents had taken a loan of Rs. 2 lakhs by mortgaging their house. Later, they mortgaged jewellery to get Rs. 1 lakh required to get her back home.

“She was a bright state topper. Despite this, she could not get her education. She wanted to be an IAS. No freeship or scholarship was transferred to her account. She was told she would get the scholarship in her second year. If the scholarship had come at least in part, her problem about online classes would have been solved,” said her mother.

The mother demanded that the government or university help the family educate their second daughter whose education was stalled to send the other daughter to Delhi.

The LSRSU had conducted a survey on September 9 regarding online classes. Records of the survey showed that the girl had no internet connection at home, nor an access to the laptop, the study material. Her classes clashed with her household chores because of which she often attended hardly three hours out of the five to eight hours of college lectures. Further she had said that she had to pay for the data pack for her online classes which added to her physical and mental stress.

Her answer echoed the general findings of the survey that showed many students were suffering due to online education.

SFI Joint Secretary Dipsita Dhar said, “A lot of out-station students in Delhi come from backward communities. Many students in LSR dream of becoming IAS officers. When a bright student faces such hardships, it demotivates others from similar backgrounds.”

Talking about the 27 percent increase suicide between 2014 and 2019, Dhar said the institution needs to understand the contributing factors that lead to student suicide such as a lack of accessibility.

“The reason the student was depressed was because she felt she could not perform. Just because she did not have the data or the access. Why were the scholarships stopped during the pandemic? After Vemula’s death, we were told that the government would take measures to avoid such incidents. But the way the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 has been drafted, more cases will happen,” said Dhar.

Similarly, Jawaharlal Nehru University Student Union (JNUSU) President Aishe Ghosh questioned why universities continue online education when thousands of students as per the LSR survey have stated that it is not feasible.

“In Delhi overall, students come from across India. A college like LSR shows that the education system does not have loopholes. But the tragic death has shown us that the system is steadily becoming exclusive, not inclusive. The onus to avail a scholarship falls on the students. They are made to run around when they have already fulfilled criteria. Who will answer for the life that is lost here?” she said.

Lastly, Ambedkar University’s Students Councillor Navina Lamba said that online classes, data pack payment, inaccessibility to infrastructure, low connectivity areas are persisting problems during the pandemic. The NEP focuses only on digital communication with no regard for its impact on students based on their caste, class, gender.

She concluded that authorities need to provide infrastructural resources rather than solely looking at statistical productivity.

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LSR Student Union claim institutional and administrative apathy led to student suicide

Sat, 07 Nov 2020 13:28:41 +0000

Image Courtesy:indianexpress.com

Government and institutional apathy responsible for the suicide of a scholarship-holder at the Lady Shri Ram (LSR) College for Women’s hostel, alleged Student Federation of India (SFI) members on November 6, 2020.

Members held the LSR administration and Delhi University DU) responsible for the death of a second-year student on November 3 after her INSPIRE scholarship granted by the Union Ministry of Science and Technology was delayed over several months.

“SFI LSR sends our deepest condolences to her family and loved ones. We resolve to firmly stand in solidarity with her family in this time of need and to demand justice for her, and others who are being forced to die by suicide due to the authorities’ disgraceful apathy. We do not perceive this as a simple case of suicide, but as an institutional murder by the extremely apathetic university and governmental institutions, which are structurally exclusionary. This systemic exclusion must end,” said SFI convener Unnimaya in a press release.

In line with their allegations, members made the following demands for the benefit of those students who depended upon scholarship concessions for education:

·       Immediate distribution of all fellowships owed to deserving students.
·       Immediate disbursal of all pending scholarship amounts to the aggrieved family as well as compensation by the Government of India.
·       Resignation of the Minister of Science and Technology for failing to execute his sworn-in responsibilities.
·       Creation of a committee to understand and handle such issues and prevent suicides due to institutional negligence.

According to the SFI press release, the deceased was a bright student and state topper in the Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) examinations. The girl looked forward to the government scholarship that would lessen the burden of education on her parents, who mortgaged their house to ensure that she can pursue her studies at DU. Her excellent performance in the HSC examinations won her the scholarship. However, its consequent delay since March resulted in extreme financial pressure.

“This is a colossal failure of the Ministry. They have put the future of many students in jeopardy,” said SFI Co-convener Lekshmi.

SFI Ranga Reddy district President Comrade Prashant said that her parents remembered their daughter as one who highly valued education. Many students from working-class, low-income families perceive education as a path for a more financially stable and respectable future.

“It is disheartening to learn that no authorities – college, university or governmental – have tried to reach out to students like her to provide required aid or to help students address the issue of delay in scholarship dispersal. It is due to a mix of these two issues that she was forced to take her own life,” said students.

The college’s Student Union documented the exclusion faced by students coming from socially and economically weak backgrounds in a survey conducted by the Inclusive Committee for Education. They repeatedly sent emails to the administration but never received any response.

Similarly, the SFI constantly petitioned the Union government to release pending scholarships and fellowships. Such financial assistance is particularly important considering the serious financial stress faced by families who lost their income during the pandemic and the subsequent lockdown.

“We have witnessed fee hikes across educational institutions which betray an utter disregard for financial conditions of students in a period of overall economic crisis. The Delhi University too failed to provide any concessions in the annual fee sum,” they said.

Further, students said that they are being forced to pay for examinations without compensation for the money collected in 2019. Central universities across India continue to impose financial demands on students.

Students said that the heavy dependence on scholarships, and the pressure on working-class families to take up credit for their children’s further studies in institutions like LSR, exposes the myth of accessibility of public-funded higher education in general, and LSR in particular.

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