171 IIT student deaths by suicide or other unnatural causes have been recorded between January 2006 and September 2026.
Of these, 120 were recorded between 2016 and September 2026, compared with 51 in the preceding decade.
Key Points
- IIT Guwahati Director Professor Devendra Jalihal highlighted the mental health crisis among young people and said the causes needed to be understood in depth rather than addressed only reactively after a tragedy.
- More than 100 participants from 28 higher education institutions across North East India and Delhi attended a workshop at IIT Guwahati focused on strengthening institutional systems for student mental health and wellbeing.
- IIT Guwahati has introduced counselling, peer mentoring and other measures following student deaths and protests in 2024.
The rising number of student deaths by suicide at the Indian Institutes of Technology has put the spotlight on the mental health pressures confronting students at some of the country's premier institutions.
IIT Guwahati, which witnessed a series of student deaths in recent years, hosted a two-day regional workshop on September 20 and 21 aimed at strengthening institutional systems for student wellbeing.
The Regional Capacity Building Workshop on Positive Mental Health, Resilience and Wellbeing brought together more than 100 participants from 28 higher education institutions across the Northeast and Delhi.
The workshop came weeks after the death of a BTech student at IIT Guwahati who fell from a hostel building in July. Police were investigating the circumstances of the death and the institute had appealed against speculation.
The institute had also witnessed four student deaths in 2024, including cases that were reported as suicides or suspected suicides. The deaths triggered student protests and renewed questions about the adequacy of mental-health and support systems on campus.
Across the IIT system, the concern is wider.
A dataset compiled by IIT Kanpur alumnus Dheeraj Singh, based on RTI responses and media reports, has recorded 171 student deaths by suicide or other unnatural causes across IITs between January 2006 and September 2026.
Of these, 120 were recorded between 2016 and September 2026, compared with 51 in the preceding decade. The compilation is not an official government dataset.
Beyond reacting to tragedies
The Guwahati workshop sought to shift the conversation from responding to tragedies after they occur to building systems that can identify distress and provide support earlier.
IIT Guwahati Director Professor Devendra Jalihal highlighted the mental health crisis among young people and said the causes needed to be understood in depth rather than addressed only reactively after a tragedy.
"There is a need to collectively find a way forward," Professor Jalihal said.
Participants included faculty members, institutional leaders, hostel wardens, student welfare and hostel management officers, counsellors and student representatives.
The central objective was to equip participants with practical and actionable insights that could be taken back to their campuses to strengthen institutional systems for student wellbeing.
The discussions emphasised that student mental health cannot be left to counselling centres alone.
A supportive campus, participants noted, requires coordinated action involving faculty, hostel administration, student welfare officers, counsellors and students themselves.
The workshop explored ways of strengthening institutional policies and support systems while ensuring that they remain responsive to students' needs.
Sessions drew upon experiences and practices from institutions including IIT Guwahati and IIT Madras, allowing participants to examine how mental-health initiatives could be implemented at the institutional level and adapted to individual campus contexts.
More than 20 resource persons, including mental health professionals, doctors, counsellors, academicians and institutional experts, contributed to the programme.
From counselling to early intervention
IIT Guwahati has itself introduced several measures following the deaths and protests of 2024.
The institute has a Centre for Holistic Wellbeing and the SAATHI Counselling Club, with professional counsellors and psychiatrists available to students.
In 2025, the institute announced mandatory counselling interactions, peer-mentoring programmes for newcomers, orientation and ice-breaking sessions, morning walks with faculty and other measures intended to help students build social connections and identify distress at an early stage.
The institute has also said it has four full-time counsellors on campus and round-the-clock online counselling support.
The emphasis on early intervention reflects a growing concern that counselling services alone may not be enough if students seek help only after reaching a crisis point.
An interim report of the Supreme Court-appointed National Task Force on student mental health, released earlier this year, flagged gaps in institutional preparedness across centrally funded institutions, including IITs.
It reported that many faculty members felt inadequately equipped to respond to students facing mental health concerns.
The Guwahati programme is the third in a series of five workshops being organised by the department of higher education.
The first two were held at IIT Madras and IIT Indore, while IIT Bhubaneswar and IIT Jammu are scheduled to host the remaining workshops.
For institutions grappling with the pressures of intense academic competition, the larger challenge is to ensure that wellbeing becomes part of everyday campus life rather than an intervention triggered by tragedy.
The workshop at IIT Guwahati has therefore placed the emphasis on building systems that can recognise distress, strengthen connections and make seeking help a normal part of student life.
Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff
