Since the Union government issued mental-health guidelines for higher-education institutions in mid-2023, at least 40 students have died by suicide across India’s premier engineering campuses, according to data obtained through a Right to Information request. The tally has prompted renewed questions about accountability, monitoring, and the limits of policy mandates in addressing distress inside highly competitive institutions.
A Rising Tally After New Rules
In July 2023, the Union education ministry circulated guidelines to universities and institutes nationwide, urging a stronger focus on students’ emotional and mental well-being as a key measure to prevent suicides. The advisory called for regular interaction between students and faculty, the hiring of more professional counsellors, and systems to identify vulnerable students early.
Yet, data compiled since those guidelines came into force shows that suicides have continued across the Indian Institutes of Technology. Nine cases were reported in 2021, followed by 14 in the next three years combined, and 16 in 2025 alone. Since the issuance of the guidelines, the cumulative figure stands at 40 deaths across IIT campuses.
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The numbers, drawn from an RTI query filed by Dheeraj Singh, an alumnus of IIT Kanpur, capture reported cases up to December 2025, with one additional case at IIT Kanpur added subsequently. The figures do not include a campus-wise breakdown of attempts or interventions, focusing only on reported fatalities.
Where the Deaths Occurred
The data shows a wide geographic spread, suggesting that the problem is not confined to a single campus or region. IIT Kanpur recorded the highest number, with nine suicides, followed by IIT Kharagpur with eight and IIT Delhi with six. IIT Roorkee, Guwahati, and Hyderabad together accounted for eight more cases, while single deaths were reported at campuses including Madras, Bombay, BHU, Dhanbad, Patna, Ropar, Bhubaneswar, Indore, and Goa.
In total, more than a dozen IITs feature in the list. The dispersion underscores the systemic nature of the issue, even as each campus operates under the same broad national framework for student welfare.
Officials have not released comparable public data on the number of counsellors deployed, frequency of student-faculty interactions, or the use of mental-health screening tools at each institute, making it difficult to correlate preventive measures with outcomes.
Questions of Oversight and Accountability
The continued deaths have raised questions about how closely the 2023 guidelines are being monitored and enforced. Critics have pointed to the absence of a national mechanism to track compliance or evaluate whether institutes are acting when warning signs emerge.
“If a national framework was in force, who was responsible for monitoring compliance, evaluating outcomes, and intervening when warning signs were clearly emerging?” asked Dheeraj Singh, who compiled the data. The concern reflects a broader debate over whether advisory guidelines, without enforceable benchmarks or audits, can bring measurable change in high-pressure academic environments.
Following an IIT Council meeting in April 2023, institutes had agreed to hire more professional counsellors and increase faculty engagement with students, including ensuring that every student interacted with teachers for at least five minutes each semester. The ministry’s guidelines also emphasized building an “inclusive” and “non-discriminatory” campus environment.
An Inquiry and a Broader Debate
On Thursday, the education ministry announced the formation of a committee to examine the large number of suicides at IIT Kanpur, where the highest tally has been recorded. Former University of Mumbai vice-chancellor Rajan Welukar said that parents, not just students, needed greater sensitisation, noting that many families push children toward IITs because they are seen as among the few institutions maintaining educational quality.
“Some of these students may have other passions,” he said, adding that they are often steered into science and technology streams regardless. “They are constantly pushed into the same path that of the IITs. This must stop.”
An email has been sent to the higher-education secretary seeking perspectives on how the guidelines are being monitored and implemented. As of publication, a response was awaited.
