To prevent incidents of suicide by hanging, a prominent public university in Gujarat is in the process of replacing all ceiling fans in its hostel rooms with special “anti-suicide” spring-loaded fans.

More than 250 fans in rooms in both girls’ and boys’ hostels of Veer Narmad South Gujarat University (VNSGU) in Surat have already been replaced, Dr K N Chavda, vice chancellor of the university told The Indian Express.

‘Spring-loaded’ fans have a built-in mechanism that is released when a load exceeding a certain threshold – say, between 10 kg and 25 kg – acts on the rod. The spring uncoils and lowers the fan – and in some cases an alarm goes off as well.

In 2023, after 23 students died by suicide in the coaching hub of Kota in Rajasthan, the district administration had asked hostels to install these devices in fans, and to cover balconies and lobbies with “anti-suicide nets”.…