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The Hindu
25-07-2025
- The Hindu
Student suicide highlights ICC failures in HEIs; a case for campus safety in NIRF rankings
The father of a 20-year-old student of Odisha who recently committed suicide held members of her college's Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) 'solely responsible' for his daughter's death by self-immolation. He alleged that the ICC members prepared a 'biased report' and blamed the student following her complaint of sexual harassment by a professor. He claimed that based on the ICC report, the principal told his daughter that she was at fault and may be punished for making a false allegation against the teacher who is the head of the Education department. The second-year Integrated student of Fakir Mohan (Autonomous) College in Balasore immolated herself shortly after coming out of the Principal's chamber. 'I hope the system will improve following the death of my daughter,' he said. Though the ICC is mandated by the University Grants Commission, in many of the institutions they are barely functional. Many students and activists make a case that social aspects such as student safety should be an important parameter for ranking HEIs so there is some pressure on the governing bodies and managements to act. The National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF)'s current methodology makes it mandatory for the Universities to have a functional ICC, but this doesn't influence the rankings. 'The ICC should be an integral part of these ranking systems. It should matter a lot how the oppressed – including women – are treated in our educational institutions. Do they feel safe? Do they have equal opportunities?' questioned Geeta Kumari, former JNU Students Union president and a Gender Sensitisation Committee Against Sexual Harassment (GSCASH) student representative. GSCASH, a body established to address sexual grievances, was replaced with ICC on the campus in 2017. Ms. Kumari served in GSCASH from 2015 to 2017. Among the various parameters of the annual ranking system, Teaching, Learning and Resources, Research and Professional Practices, Graduation Outcome, and Peer Perception play a critical role but student safety aspects such as a functional ICC are often not taken into consideration. In a quick and random survey, three highly ranked HEIs had several lacunae in ICC functioning — with many students unaware of the very existence of these committees meant to safeguard their dignity. A skewed system The Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), which ranked second in the University rankings of NIRF, replaced the Gender Sensitisation Committee Against Sexual Harassment (GSCASH) with the Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) in 2017, but students attest that the change doesn't make much difference on the ground and the campus remains unsafe for students. 'The university administration disbanded the GSCASH and constituted the ICC, citing the UGC's standardization policy. But the move actually came in the wake of multiple sexual harassment allegations against faculty members that year,' said Parvathy P, a PhD scholar at the Centre for Law and Governance, JNU. She mentioned that the current structure of the ICC is biased against the students. 'The current ICC has nine members—six nominated by the administration and three student representatives elected through campus polls. Despite this, the structure remains skewed in favour of the university management, which continues to hold significant control over all decision-making,' said Ms. Parvathy. Recalling a recent case, Ms. Parvathy said, 'A UG student faced sexual harassment in 2024, but the administration failed to follow a transparent process to ensure justice. When she staged a sit-in protest at the university gate, demanding action, the administration imposed a fine on her instead of acting against the perpetrators. She was ultimately forced to pay the fine to continue her studies.' 'ICC is filled with people who do not understand gender and its complexities. The first chairperson of ICC made comments such as 'umar ho gayi shaadi bache karo' to female students when they were protesting,' Ms. Kumari said. Banaras Hindu University (BHU) at Varanasi that is ranked fifth in the University rankings of NIRF has an ICC. 'We are completely unaware of such a body in the campus. Even the official BHU website does not list ICC members,' said a BHU research scholar on condition of anonymity. IIT-BHU, which had a noted sexual harassment case in Nov 1, 2023 , has no elected student representative in its ICC. The Uttar Pradesh police arrested the three accused on December 31. The research scholar said there is no security verification at the gates of BHU, and anyone from the public can enter freely. 'The three accused in the case were reportedly involved in other incidents of molestation on campus. It shows that little has changed on the ground. What has now become routine is that each time a sexual harassment case surfaces, there's an immediate wave of student protests. But within days, the outrage fades, and the administration carries on as if nothing happened,' he said. 'Dissatisfied with functioning' Mehina Fathima Shihab, student member of the ICC, Delhi University, main campus, which ranked ninth in the NIRF ranking, revealed that she isn't happy with the committee's functioning. 'The constitution of the committee itself is a problem, as ICCs are mostly nominated bodies with little or no autonomy. The committee is not fully elected by the stakeholders of the university, and its nominated members often show a loyalty towards the institution rather than upholding the rights of the student community,' she said, reiterating that the ICCs of all of the DU campuses have room for improvement. The body often faces internal criticism from the elected student members over decisions taken by the committee. 'There are fundamental conflicts between elected members and nominated members, as elected student representatives want to make sure that the campus is safer for everyone. Since not all the nominated members are democratic, conflicts take place whenever we meet. The demand for GSCASH is still very relevant as it can function much better than the ICC,' said Ms. Shihab. GSCASH was an independent body proctor with no interference from the college administration, whereas ICC has become an administrative tool, where confidentiality is compromised, she says. Ms. Shihab also disagreed with the NIRF ranking scores as its structure does not fully assess the safety and security of students within the campus premises. 'The NIRF ranking scales are faulty when it comes to assessing the social aspects of an institution. The Delhi University campus is very unsafe for women. Sexual harassment cases are being reported on a monthly basis. The UGC regulation, which constituted ICC, clearly mentions the list of responsibilities of institutions in making their campus safer for women, and most of them are ignored, including basic measures like ensuring campus spaces are well-lit,' she said. But the University's faculty members say that the DU's Miranda House has an effective ICC. 'I will not claim that all of our students know about the ICC but it has increased awareness,' said Abha Dev Habib, Associate Professor, Miranda House, Delhi University. While the functioning of the ICCs differs from college to college affiliated to the University, Miranda House is on the right track, Abha Dev Habib said. 'Our ICC has three student members. We ask every class of students to give representation and these representatives come together to elect the members. We have been receiving a lot of sexual harassment complaints and a strong ICC is something we do not compromise,' Ms. Habib said. Better implementation 'Many universities conduct superficial inquiries simply to silence the survivor. Instead of ensuring justice, some ICC members indulge in character assassination, prioritising the university's reputation over the victim's rights. In such cases, the ICC becomes a mere puppet of the administration. Its fundamental duties are often diluted or ignored altogether,' Abdul Wahab, State Secretary of SFI, Uttar Pradesh said. He also alleged that universities don't care to conduct elections to select student members into the ICC and often function with nominated faculty members. 'According to UGC norms, ICCs must include elected student members, faculty, and external representatives from NGOs or activists working in the field. But in reality, most universities either handpick members or fail to maintain a functional ICC. How can an entirely nominated body function impartially?' he asked. The ICCs are not supposed to function as a punitive body, but rather as a body that ensures sexual harassment does not happen within campus premises. 'Gender sensitization workshops take place once every two years. There is no consistency, and its reach is quite limited. NIRF rankings often overlook the functionality and a mere presence is enough to secure a good rank,' Ms. Shihab said. Attempts were made to reach out to the managements of Sharda University, JNU and BHU and IIT-BHU via phone calls and email. There has been no response. (Those in distress or having suicidal thoughts are encouraged to seek help and counselling by calling the helpline numbers here)
Indian Express
21-07-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
Student suicides in universities are often a product of institutional violence. We must take a stand
Ganesh Gaigouria and Vidyasagar Sharma The suicide and death of a 19-year-old woman student in Odisha has brought back the debates around sexual harassment and gender oppression in Indian higher education institutes. This incident adds to a series of cases, where the silencing of women, Dalits, and other marginalised communities has become a practice in these spaces. The case of Rohith Vemula, the suicide of Dr Payal Tadvi, or the rape and murder of a medical student at R G Kar Medical College reveal the repeated failure of institutions to ensure a safe space within universities. Notably, the perpetrators of such violence are, in most cases, a person in authority, be it a faculty member or someone from the dominant caste group. Against this backdrop, we must talk about a space that promotes empathy and solidarity, necessary to live a dignified life. The growing number of student suicides and sexual harassment cases across campuses exposes the deep failure of existing redressal systems in public institutions. For instance, the Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) appears to be a largely symbolic and dysfunctional body, often prioritising institutional interests over those of the complainants. The SC/ST cells are no better, which are constituted by the University Grants Commission (UGC) to safeguard the rights of SC/ST students in educational institutions. N Sukumar, in his book Caste Discrimination and Exclusion in Indian Universities highlighted how SC/ST cells lack autonomy, resources and accountability. Instead of being proactive and taking serious actions against perpetrators, they do nothing more than completing the bureaucratic formalities. The Odisha case illustrates such non-functionality of the ICC or any gender-based grievance redressal structures. We urgently need new institutional measures that reflect the intersectional realities of caste and gender. The demand for the Rohith Act, raised after Rohith Vemula's death, must be revisited with renewed urgency. This Act ensures legal accountability for institutions in cases of caste-based discrimination and suicide, including provisions for time-bound redressal, independent grievance committees, and legal protection for complainants. We also highlight here that the earlier GSCASH (Gender Sensitisation Committee Against Sexual Harassment) system at JNU, which was participatory and student-inclusive, may be considered a model for creating effective redressal systems. Unlike ICC, which operates under administrative control and power hierarchies, GSCASH had autonomy and democratic representation. Beyond institutional measures, we need to reimagine educational spaces as grounded in emotional and ethical culture. Institutional measures alone cannot ensure inclusivity and justice unless we are willing to bring a radical shift in civic emotions and ethics. There needs to be a reframing of existing gender and caste sensitisation programmes within a radical perspective, which must go beyond the ritualistic 'ticking off the checkboxes'. Students from marginalised communities must be empowered to speak about their everyday suffering and trauma without the fear of retaliation. This can only happen in spaces that foster courage, solidarity, and radical empathy, not silence and alienation. The institutionalised silencing of marginalised students is embedded in the everyday socio-spatial architecture of caste, gender and systemic violence. Solidarity must become law, beyond mere expressions and feelings. Only then can we restore trust among students. Gaigouria is a Visiting Faculty at the National Law School of Indian University, Bengaluru. Sharma is a research scholar at the Faculty of Sociology, University of Bielefeld, Germany
New Indian Express
05-06-2025
- Politics
- New Indian Express
Gender-neutrality push of JNU admin futile: Students
NEW DELHI: After the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) administration decided to replace the Hindi term 'Kulpati' with 'Kulguru' as the Vice-Chancellor's designation, citing gender neutrality and alignment with ancient Indian academic traditions, students on Wednesday strongly criticised the move as superficial and politically-motivated. The JNU Students' Union (JNUSU), in a letter dated June 4, wrote, 'We understand your urgency to change the designation from 'Kulpati' to 'Kulguru' as a move toward gender neutrality. We do not hesitate to say that you are following the path of your ideological home, i.e, RSS-BJP.' The decision, made during an Executive Council meeting earlier this year, follows similar developments in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, where universities adopted 'Kulguru' to reflect the 'guru-shishya' tradition and remove gendered connotations from titles. However, calling the change symbolic, JNUSU added, 'Your name-change gesture rings hollow without substantive action. We urge you to move beyond symbolism: reinstate GSCASH, restore deprivation points, build gender-neutral facilities, and implement transgender reservations.' Students also criticised dismantling of Gender Sensitisation Committee Against Sexual Harassment (GSCASH) and the removal of deprivation points in PhD admissions, arguing that these changes have disproportionately affect marginalised groups, including women and transgender students While the university says the change is aimed at promoting inclusivity, students argue that inclusivity cannot be achieved without structural reform: 'Symbolic gestures alone cannot ensure gender justice.'
