• Source:JND
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A massive controversy erupted after parents accused Vana Vani Matriculation Higher Secondary School, run by IIT Madras on its campus, of conducting a “product test” on students without their prior permission. The IIT-M authorities removed school principal M Sathishkumar from the post and have issued warnings to professors involved in the test. 

The parents claimed that students were made to wear a “smart insole” inside their shoes and a smartwatch on August 19 and were asked to walk and jump short distances. The professors, meanwhile, collected the data amid the study to test the potential of a cost-effective smart insole assembled from commercially available components. Parents said that they had no idea about the test and the professors should have consulted the parents before the experiment. 

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"We suspect they took the endurance test to develop a sports-related product. They should have got the consent from parents and students as per the Indian Council for Medical Research's (ICMR) ethical guidelines to perform any test on humans," a parent was quoted as saying by the Times of India.

The parents filed a complaint with the State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) after complaints to the college management allegedly went unanswered. In their complaint, parents alleged that the test conducted on the IIT Madras campus violated rules under the New Drugs and Clinical Trials Rules, 2019, and the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940.

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However, IIT Madras denied the allegations of clinical trials or medical device testing in a statement. The authority stated that the study lasted less than ten minutes per student and there was no involvement of invasive procedures. The institute further stated that there was no direct contact of the student's bodies with the insole.

"The initial preliminary study was conducted on Aug 19 at Vana Vani School to understand the feasibility of a cost-effective smart insole assembled using commercially viable items. Neither clinical trials nor any medical-related device trials were conducted," IIT-M said on Wednesday.