Context:

The growing number of student suicides in India is an alarming reflection of deep-rooted problems in the country’s education system. On May 23, 2025, the Supreme Court of India voiced strong concern over the surge in student deaths by suicide in Kota, Rajasthan—a city that has become symbolic of the intense pressure young students face. The Court’s questions to the Rajasthan government and the local police come at a time when there is growing public awareness of the mental health struggles faced by students, especially those preparing for high-stakes competitive exams. The incident that prompted this judicial scrutiny involved the death of a 22-year-old IIT Kharagpur student on May 4, and the inexplicable delay of four days in filing the FIR, which was only registered on May 8.

But this is not just about one city or a handful of tragic cases—it is a nationwide issue that demands serious attention.

The Magnitude of the Problem:

India has one of the highest rates of student suicides in the world. Mental health issues, social isolation, family expectations, bullying, and a lack of institutional support all contribute to this growing crisis.

According to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), 13,044 student suicides were reported in 2022, accounting for 7.6% of all suicides in the country. Of these, 2,095 were linked to examination failure—a stark indication of the academic pressure students face.

Between 2014 and 2024, over 100 suicides were recorded in IITs alone, and 2025 has already seen fresh incidents from IIT Indore, IIT Kharagpur, and IIM Bangalore. In 2025 alone, 14 student suicides have already been reported in Kota—a city known for its coaching institutes that prepare students for exams like NEET and IIT-JEE. These numbers, while shocking, are part of a broader trend that has been worsening over the past decade.

Root Causes: Academic Stress and Beyond:

·         Caste-Based Discrimination: Multiple cases highlight the role of institutional caste bias, especially against students from Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. In some cases, complaints by affected students were either ignored or inadequately addressed, leading to feelings of alienation and helplessness.

·         Societal and Parental Expectations: Students are burdened with the dreams of their families and society at large.

·         Mental Health Stigma: Cultural stigma around mental illness inhibits students from seeking help. A study using the 75th Round National Sample Survey data (2017-18) found that self-reporting of mental illness in India is less than 1%, despite increasing signs of distress among youth.

·         Fear of Failure and FOMO: Today’s students grapple not just with academic pressure but also with fear of missing out (FOMO) and constant peer comparison, further intensifying their psychological stress.

·         Institutional Isolation: Students identified as “weak” or “underperforming” are often segregated through remedial classes or disciplinary measures, leading to deeper social exclusion.

Limitations of Current Interventions:

Several measures have been introduced to address the crisis, including counseling services, remedial classes, academic load reduction, and grievance redressal mechanisms. However, these approaches have had limited success, often becoming counterproductive due to poor design and implementation:

·         Counseling Gaps: While beneficial in normal times, counseling services often fall short during critical phases when mental health crises escalate. Institutional response tends to be reactive rather than preventive.

·         Complaint-Based Anti-Discrimination Mechanisms: These systems often deter victims from coming forward due to fear of backlash, delayed justice, or outright neglect. In one tragic case at IIT Kharagpur in 2024, a student who had reportedly filed a complaint was later found dead. Subsequent investigation revealed it to be a murder, not suicide—raising serious concerns about institutional inaction.

·         Stigmatizing Remedial Support: Identifying students for remedial programs based on poor exam performance often reinforces labels of inferiority and causes psychological isolation.

Systemic Failures and Calls for Reform:

Acknowledging the severity of the crisis, the Supreme Court of India and even the President of India have called for humanitarian and structural reforms. In January 2025, the Court ordered the University Grants Commission (UGC) to gather detailed data on Equal Opportunity Cells (EOCs) in universities, highlighting the need for data-driven policy-making.

Institutions like the Council of IITs have proposed new guidelines, and the UGC has mandated representation of vulnerable groups in grievance committees. However, implementation remains uneven and impact unclear.

Toward a Paradigm Shift: Principles for Reform

1. Early Detection and Flexible Assessment

·         Instead of identifying struggling students only after exams, institutions must monitor early warning signs such as withdrawal, absenteeism, and declining performance.

·         Flexible assessments, including assignments of varying difficulty, should be introduced to support diverse learning needs and reduce academic rigidity without compromising rigor.

2. End Stigmatization and Reinforce Inclusion

·         Programs meant to support weaker students must be redesigned to avoid isolating them. Academic support should be integrated into the mainstream curriculum rather than segregated.

·         Replace complaint-driven mechanisms with proactive inclusion strategies that build trust and reduce fear of retaliation.

3. Decouple Identity from Admission

·         Caste or community identifiers should be removed from internal academic records post-admission to avoid reinforcing bias. Legal safeguards for social equity should coexist with anonymity in academic evaluations.

4. Collective Mental Health Models

·         Encourage community-based living and peer support within campuses. Group living and shared responsibilities can help counteract individualism, reduce isolation, and promote emotional well-being.

·         Shift from competition to collaboration—nurturing a sense of belonging, empathy, and resilience.

5. Transparent and Independent Grievance Redressal

·         Create fast, online, and third-party-administered complaint systems with built-in protections for complainants. This ensures impartiality and avoids institutional conflicts of interest.

Conclusion:

India’s student suicide crisis is not just a mental health issue—it reflects a broader failure of educational institutions to accommodate diversity, vulnerability, and difference. The way forward lies in reimagining higher education as a space that values inclusion over exclusion, support over surveillance, and wellness over competition.

Prevention must go beyond token reforms. It requires cultural change, systemic redesign, and institutional accountability. Most importantly, it requires compassion—because no academic success is worth a student’s life.