Late-night tasks, harassment charges surface against IIM student committees

SHILLONG, July 9: Allegations of forced late-night assignments, sleep deprivation, and verbal bullying by senior-led student committees at Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) have surfaced in a formal complaint. The document questions the practice of assigning freshers tasks at midnight with deadlines extending into the early hours of the morning.
The complaint, filed by Piyush Birari, does not name a specific IIM but claims that student councils, placement committees, and other senior-run bodies frequently assign group tasks, video assignments, and quizzes late at night. According to the complaint, some tasks are issued at midnight with deadlines between 2 am and 4 am, often followed immediately by another assignment.
While acknowledging that group activities can build discipline and networking skills, the complainant questioned the necessity of conducting them after midnight when regular classes end much earlier. The complaint alleges that while these practices are often justified as “preparing students for a demanding routine,” they instead cause severe mental strain and deprive students of rest.
More seriously, the document alleges that failure to complete these tasks results in verbal humiliation before peers, exclusion from committee meetings, and bullying. It further claims that seniors may target groups rather than individuals to bypass anti-ragging regulations. The complaint also notes that students who report these issues to faculty or management fear further harassment from seniors.
When contacted regarding the prevalence of such practices at IIM Shillong, institute officials denied any knowledge of these activities. On being specifically asked if student-run committees at the Shillong campus assign late-night tasks or quizzes to freshers, an official stated, “No such activities [occur here].”