IIT BHU Forms Nine-Member Panel for Student Drug Testing

IIT (BHU), Varanasi, has formed a nine-member committee to oversee urine-based drug testing for newly admitted students, following a directive from the Union Ministry of Education. The proposed testing will cover students enrolling in B.Tech, M.Tech, Integrated Dual Degree (IDD) and PhD programmes.

According to a report by Live Hindustan, this is the first time the institute has constituted a committee for this purpose. The order was issued by the Deputy Registrar (Administration) on Saturday.

IT BHU campus in Varanasi, where a committee has been formed to oversee drug testing for newly admitted students

Nine-Member Committee to Oversee Testing

The committee includes faculty members and medical professionals from IIT (BHU) and Banaras Hindu University (BHU). Professor Rajesh Kumar, Dean of Student Welfare, will chair the panel.

The other members are Professor Devendra Singh, Professor Medha Jha, Professor Abhishek Kumar Srivastava, Dr Ajit Kumar Mishra, Professor Kiran Giri from the Department of Pharmacology at IMS BHU, Dr Deepa Rani from the Department of Pathology, Professor Kamlesh Palundurkar, Head of the Department of Biochemistry at BHU, and Tushar Kumar.

The panel will oversee the implementation of urine-based drug testing in line with the Ministry of Education’s directions to higher educational institutions, including IITs and IIMs.

Student Consent and Implementation Details

According to the reported ministry guidelines, students must provide consent before undergoing urine-based drug tests. However, the available reports do not specify the testing schedule, detailed procedures or the action that may follow a positive test result.

Further details about the implementation process are awaited.

IIT BHU Student Enrolment

IIT (BHU) offers undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral programmes. According to reports, the institute enrols approximately 1,500 students in B.Tech and Integrated Dual Degree programmes, around 400 in M.Tech and M.Pharm programmes, and about 300 PhD scholars.

The proposed initiative is intended to support efforts to address drug abuse among students in higher educational institutions. Its implementation and impact will depend on the procedures adopted by the institute and the applicable guidelines.