Team Goemkarponn
CORTALIM: Cortalim Congress leader and former Youth Congress president Mahesh Nadar on Monday demanded the immediate constitution of an independent 10-member committee to probe the series of student deaths at the BITS Pilani–Goa campus, following the alleged suicide of a 20-year-old third-year engineering student. Nadar also questioned the continued silence of Cortalim MLA Antonio Vas on the issue.
Addressing the media, Nadar said yet another young life had been lost at the campus despite repeated assurances, public statements and promises of reform made after earlier incidents. “This is no longer only about grief. It is about failure—systemic and institutional failure,” he said.
Referring to the latest incident, Nadar stated that the death came after a pattern of similar cases over the past year, during which concerns were repeatedly raised about academic pressure, weak counselling mechanisms and the absence of proactive mental health support. “Committees were promised. Measures were announced. The real question is—what has changed? The answer is nothing,” he said.
Raising sharp questions, Nadar added, “If safeguards were implemented, why do students keep dying? If counselling was strengthened, why is distress going unnoticed? If stigma around mental health was addressed, why does silence continue?” He said statements without enforcement had no value and warned that delays were costing lives.
The Congress leader alleged that deaths were being hastily categorised without transparent and independent scrutiny. “If authorities insist there is no angle of substance abuse, then the responsibility squarely falls on administrative and institutional lapses. That failure must be examined honestly,” he said.
Nadar demanded an independent inquiry through a 10-member committee comprising a judicial authority, an independent police officer, a forensic medical expert, an education sector expert, a mental health professional, a government regulator, a student or parent representative, a human rights member, a social worker or NGO representative, and a hostel administration expert. “Only such a broad-based panel can ensure credibility and truth,” he said.
Taking a swipe at the state government, Nadar said, “If the government cannot properly regulate and govern an institute like BITS Pilani, it must pause and reconsider plans to bring even bigger universities into Goa.”
He also questioned the role of the local MLA. “The silence of the MLA is deeply disturbing. Do students become irrelevant because they are not voters? Condolences do not save lives—action does. He must step forward and demand a proper investigation. These repeated incidents are damaging the name of Cortalim,” Nadar said.
Nadar conveyed condolences to the bereaved family and reiterated that accountability and preventive action were the only ways to prevent further loss of young lives.
