Drug menace at IIT-Kanpur: Administration holds special drive to counsel students

IIT Kanpur

The IIT Kanpur administration is holding a special drive to counsel students against drug use after internal inquiries revealed that drugs are finding their way into the campus. The counselling sessions are being run in association with the Kanpur district administration and police.

Manindra Agarwal, officiating director of the institute, said that they are regularly running the sessions to raise awareness among students. Surprise checks are also being conducted in the campus, he added.

Agarwal, however, refused to reveal the estimated number of students using drugs. He said that the primary drug which is being consumed is marijuana dipped in some chemical, and smack and charas are also being consumed in a small quantity.

“We have observed that drug consumption in the institute has increased in the last some years and we have to address this. And in order to do that we have also asked the district administration and the police to help us identify and nab the peddlers and those who are helping the drugs reach inside the campus,” Agarwal said.

Talking in detail about the role of the police, Registrar KK Tiwari said that though the institute is very much capable of handling the drug problem inside the campus, but since their jurisdiction and information is limited to the campus itself, they need the help of police to identify those who are involved in helping the drugs reach the campus, directly or indirectly.

“The students in the campus are our responsibility and the district administration cannot do anything in that matter. But all we need from the intelligence and the police is to help us identify those elements who has a police record in drug dealing and might be involved in this. We need the administration to keep a check on such people and share their information with us so that we can take action,” Tiwari said.

“The main issue we have in here is that there are many unauthorised person from the nearby villages enter the campus, using it as a shortcut. It is very hard for us to stop them all or check everyone. We also need the district administration help to make an alternative way for these people,” Tiwari further said, adding that though the administration has assured them, they haven’t received any concrete help till now.

On how they found the drug problem, Tiwari said, “Around 4-5 months ago there were complaints of some unauthorised people coming continuously in the campus and going into the hostels. When we checked we found that 2-3 among them were bringing drugs to the campus. During enquiry they named a security guard too. Followed by that there were surprise raids in the campus.”

“The staff involved was expelled right then, we increased the security and took action which gave great results that time. But now again such complaints are coming, and we have found that the drug supply is there.”

“During out campaign some months ago we did find some small peddlers and dealers. But the others involved and the actual kingpin is yet to be identified, and only the city administration can do that,” the Officiating Director said adding they are planning to again run such campaigns.

Meanwhile, Akhilesh Kumar, SSP Kanpur said that they have formed police teams in this regard and have given the responsibility to SP (west) who all are keeping a check on those who has a record in drug dealing. He said the police is also trying to identify and nab the new players in the market.

“In these few months, when it is the time for the institute’s cultural fest, these things increase. Some months ago even one of the institute’s staff went to jail in the matter and we believe that without the help from some inside it is not possible. But we are trying to identify all those involved,” SSP said.

On the matter of sharing information of the people with past records in drug dealing, SSP said that they haven’t shared any information with the institute yet.