New Delhi: IIT Delhi Director Rangan Banerjee has warned college students of disciplinary motion, saying the protest over the demise of 31-year-old MSc pupil Rishikesh Kumar “escalated considerably” on Thursday evening, with demonstrations reaching campus residential areas.
In an e-mail to college students on Friday, Professor Banerjee wrote a gaggle of protesters demonstrated outdoors school housing between 10.30PM and 12.30AM and used “unsavoury, humiliating and threatening language of their slogans”.
“Such behaviour compromises the protection, privateness, and peace of college members and their households, together with younger youngsters and aged dependents,” the e-mail learn.
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At midnight, IIT Delhi college students raised a robust name:
“Professor bahar aao, aao hamara saath do!”
A name for his or her professors to face with them in solidarity and assist their struggle for #JusticeForRishikesh.@iitdelhi @TheNewspinch @the_hindu @IndianExpress pic.twitter.com/KOw4OgiiWF
— Voice Of IITD (@VoiceofIITD) August 27, 2026
The Director acknowledged the institute would act towards these disrupting the functioning of the campus.
“The Institute will take disciplinary actions towards people disrupting the peaceable functioning of the campus together with residential areas, courses, tutorial and different actions,” Banerjee wrote.
The communication got here as pupil demonstrations entered their fifth consecutive day following Kumar’s demise. College students have been demanding an unbiased inquiry, motion towards institute officers and compensation for his household.
On the identical time, the institute stated a number of measures have already been initiated following discussions with pupil representatives.
“The Exterior Inquiry committee has began functioning,” Banerjee wrote. He added that the institute’s assist for Kumar’s household by way of the Benevolent Fund had been accepted. A separate fund has additionally been created to obtain voluntary contributions from school, college students and workers.
The institute can be set to nominate an Exterior Ombudsperson subsequent week, in line with the Director. “Now we have continued to have interaction with our pupil representatives and different college students in good religion,” he talked about.
The newest protest occurred on Thursday evening, with college students marching by way of the campus carrying banners that learn, “IIT Delhi college students demand justice! Investigation, Compensation, Resignation. We stand with Rishikesh.” Safety personnel had barricaded the institute’s major gate through the demonstration.
Kumar allegedly died by suicide on Saturday after leaping from the sixth flooring of a constructing on the IIT Delhi campus. The Delhi Police have registered an FIR towards unknown individuals for alleged abetment of suicide.
The protesting college students have sought the resignation of the Dean, Affiliate Dean (Pupil Welfare), Affiliate Dean (Hostel Administration) and Head of the Physics Division. They’ve additionally demanded a minimum of Rs 1 crore in compensation for Kumar’s household.
College students have maintained that Kumar’s demise was the eighth suicide on the IIT Delhi campus since 2023.
The administration has not accepted the calls for for resignations or the precise compensation quantity sought by the scholars.
College students Reject ‘Threatening Slogans’ Declare, Query Campus Techniques
College students protesting at IIT Delhi have disputed the administration’s description of slogans raised throughout Thursday evening’s demonstration, saying the march by way of hostels and residential areas was to hunt assist from the campus neighborhood and push for adjustments in what they describe as a failing system.
A 3rd-year B.Tech pupil informed NDTV on the situation of anonymity that college students had marched to completely different hostels and residential areas to hunt solidarity.
“That is the primary time that an establishment like IIT is seeing this sort of a pupil rebellion, and that has turn out to be the issue for the system. All of us really feel so remoted and have not been capable of struggle the present mechanisms. We marched to each hostel and residential space to ask for his or her solidarity and to ask for adjustments in a failing system,” the third-year pupil stated.
The scholars questioned the effectiveness of the committees arrange by the institute to handle their issues.
“Simply organising 10 various kinds of committees after which having them do no work does not work. There’s a breakdown of belief between college students and the administration,” stated a fourth-year B.Tech pupil.
The scholars additionally stated their calls for had been rooted of their experiences on campus quite than any political agenda.
One other “Our calls for are coming from a spot of private expertise and never politics,” the fourth-year pupil stated.
On the slogans which have turn out to be some extent of rivalry, the third-year B.Tech pupil stated the protesters had been calling on college students and professors to return out in assist of them.
“Our slogans final evening had been: ‘Aravali hostel bahar aao humaara saath do, Professors bahar aao humaara saath do’. Now we have video proof of our slogans too. However it’s being maligned as threats to professors,” the coed stated.
The scholars alleged that some professors who had objected to the slogans had complained and threatened to file police complaints.
Additionally they made a distinction between the Director and different members of the administration. The fourth-year B.Tech pupil stated Rangan Banerjee had been prepared to take heed to the scholars even when he didn’t agree with them.
“The Director has all the time been an individual who listens to college students. He’s really the one particular person within the administration who listens to us. Regardless of whether or not he agrees or disagrees, he a minimum of listens to us and is open to dialogue,” the coed stated.
The scholars alleged that there was much less openness elsewhere within the administration.
“Different directors work in a hive mentality and never in good religion. College have closed ranks amongst themselves,” the fourth-year pupil stated.
Psychological well being assist on campus was among the many college students’ largest issues. The fifth-year PhD pupil alleged that a lot of the infrastructure cited by the administration exists “on paper”.
“Loads of the psychological well being infrastructure that has been acknowledged is on paper. The counsellors are there, however for those who ask college students about their expertise with such counsellors, it’s harrowing,” the coed stated.
The coed alleged that the main target of counselling usually returned to lecturers even when college students had been dealing with severe difficulties.
“The road on which this counselling is that: focus in your lecturers even when your life is on the road. This is not written or stated anywhere–it is unsaid,” the coed stated.
The scholars additionally referred to a evaluation committee set as much as look at psychological well being infrastructure on the institute. The fifth-year PhD pupil alleged that the committee couldn’t full its work due to difficulties in gaining access to sure information and protocols.
“There was a evaluation committee arrange by college students on the psychological well being infrastructure within the school. This wasn’t capable of undergo due to the Dean of Pupil Welfare, Professor Sreedevi Upadhyayula-active stonewalling of our calls for for sure information and protocols till now, once we needed to resort to protest. Now all these disclosures are being made as harm management,” the coed stated.
“The programs have been in place however they do not work. When it comes to counselling, the final concluding comment of the counsellors right here is: ‘Why do not you give attention to research?'” the coed stated.
The scholars stated they’d raised the difficulty straight with the Director throughout Monday’s protest.
“1000’s of scholars had been sitting in entrance of the Director, speaking to him in regards to the crumbling psychological well being infrastructure,” the third-year BTech pupil stated.
The scholars additionally spoke about what they described as a rising insensitivity in direction of suicides on campus.
“A majority of professors have normalised pupil suicides on campus as one thing like that is half and parcel. That insensitivity makes the scenario worse for us-triggering whether or not our lives matter or not,” the fourth-year B.Tech pupil stated.
On the identical time, the scholars stated there have been school members who supported their issues however had been reluctant to be seen publicly with the protesters. They attributed this to the affect of everlasting school members throughout departments.
“The vast majority of professors who’re towards the coed motion, are everlasting school, they belong to the principle foyer and train within the cream programs 0f Civil Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and Electrical Engineering, Chemical Engineering,” stated the fifth-year PhD pupil.
In response to the scholars, 5 or 6 professors from completely different departments, together with Physics and Administration Research, had stepped out to indicate solidarity. Additionally they stated a senior professor had come out in assist of the scholars.
