Nearly one in 10 students in higher education institutions reported experiencing suicidal thoughts in the past year, while around 15 per cent said they had gone through a period of prolonged distress, low mood or anxiety in the previous six months, according to a nationwide survey conducted by a Supreme Court-appointed task force.
The findings, accessed by PTI, are part of an ongoing assessment by the National Task Force (NTF) constituted to examine mental health concerns among students and recommend measures to prevent suicides in higher educational institutions (HEIs). The task force is expected to submit its final report to the Supreme Court by October 31.
The survey, which received responses from more than 2.43 lakh students, found that about 34 per cent of respondents felt like an outsider on campus to varying degrees. Around 67 per cent of those who participated belonged to the Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe and Other Backward Class categories.
"About 15 per cent students recalled a period in the previous six months when they felt very overwhelmed or distressed, or experienced low moods or anxiety continuously for several weeks. Nine percent reported experiencing suicidal thoughts often or very often in the past year," the survey found.
The findings also pointed to concerns about institutional support. While 56 per cent of students said they trusted their administration to handle serious issues fairly, nearly 32 per cent said their institutions did not provide counselling services.
Academic pressures, uncertainty over employment and concerns about career choices emerged as common issues among students.
However, the task force has cautioned that the survey findings should be treated as preliminary as the current sample is not representative of the entire student population.
"Responses to many other items, including open-text fields, are still being analysed. Moreover, due to non-representativeness of the current sample, the observations need to be taken as preliminary and tentative," a senior official said.
The emerging patterns, however, indicate the need for urgent measures to strengthen student support systems, the official said. These include standardised support mechanisms, faculty training, efforts to reduce stigma around mental health, crisis-response protocols, regular monitoring backed by quality data, and more responsive and transparent institutional administrations.
The task force has also conducted institutional visits and consultations with students and other stakeholders as part of its assessment.
So far, the NTF has held 30 meetings at 19 institutions across Delhi and the National Capital Region, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Assam and West Bengal. The institutions visited represented different disciplines and types of higher educational institutions.
The task force said the institutional visits were also not representative because of the small number of institutions covered. Despite this limitation, students at most of the institutions spoke at length about academic, social, mental health, faculty-related and administrative concerns, the official said.
Students reported several academic difficulties, including strict attendance requirements, demanding schedules and academic and clinical overload, particularly in medical and allied fields.
Medical students also raised concerns about on-call duties extending beyond prescribed limits, while students in engineering institutions spoke about intense competition linked to relative grading systems and stringent placement criteria.
Students in state universities reported inconsistent or inadequate academic support, which they attributed in part to faculty shortages.
In dental, nursing and mental health education institutions, students reported inadequate practical training that left them feeling under-prepared for professional practice.
PhD students, meanwhile, raised concerns about supervisors being neglectful, excessively controlling or exploitative, according to the findings.
The task force's interim report had earlier highlighted several structural concerns affecting students in higher education. These included social discrimination, sexual harassment in medical and engineering colleges, gender discrimination by faculty, and discrimination linked to caste and academic performance.
The interim report had also flagged caste identification through NEET-UG and JEE ranks, as well as caste-based humiliation and discrimination in areas such as admissions, grading, language barriers and access to faculty support.
The survey findings come amid renewed concern over student suicides following the deaths of two students at IIT Delhi and IIT Bombay, which triggered widespread discussion over mental health and student support systems in premier educational institutions.
The National Task Force was constituted by the Supreme Court in March last year to examine the rising incidence of student suicides and assess mental health and well-being concerns among students in higher educational institutions across the country.
The panel is headed by former Supreme Court judge Justice S Ravindra Bhat and includes psychiatrist Alok Sarin, Mary E John, former director of the Centre for Women's Development Studies; Arman Ali, executive director of the National Centre for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People; Rajendar Kachroo, founder of the Aman Satya Kachroo Trust; and Seema Mehrotra, professor of clinical psychology at NIMHANS, among other experts.
The final report is expected to set out recommendations aimed at strengthening mental health support, addressing institutional and academic pressures, and improving mechanisms for identifying and responding to students in distress.
