The Indian Institute of Technology Joint Entrance Examinations (IIT-JEE) results held good news for students from Andhra Pradesh. S Harshavardhan of Hyderabad secured the eighth rank in the all-India exam and another, Jugal Kishore, topped the list in the Scheduled Tribe category. In all, 500 students from AP have secured ranks this year into the prestigious IITs.

But Andhra Pradesh holds the dubious distinction of students getting poor Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) in semester exams in IITs. As per official records, less than 20 per cent of AP students out of about 2,500 clear semester exams in the first two years at IITs.

This is apparently leading to depression and suicide among students at IITs. “The first two semesters are the best time to score better CGPA. It would be extremely difficult to improve CGPA in the last two years if one has had poor grades in the first two years. The stress to maintain the reputation of being an IITian has often been leading to suicides,” said Prof Krishna Kumar, an IIT trainer.

It may be noted, 20-year-old Suia, student of IIT, Patna, from Andhra Pradesh on Thursday allegedly committed suicide by jumping from the roof of her hostel as she was depressed with her performance in the elite institute. The third-year student of computer sciences was suffering from a bout of depression for over a month after failing to secure marks up to her expectation in examinations.