“A thorough disappointment”: SC slams HEIs for failing to answer survey on campus mental health

The Supreme Court of India has issued a severe warning to educational institutions that did not respond to a questionnaire on student suicides at Indian colleges.

In a recent ruling, the apex court observed that over 57,000 higher education institutions (HEIs) out of 58,000 have yet to respond to the National Task Force's survey questionnaires on mental health on campus, Times Now reports.

The Court established the National Task Force (NTF) at the beginning of this year to address the mounting issue of mental health on Indian campuses, which has resulted in students dying by suicide, including at premier institutes.

The petitioners included the parents of Ayush Ashna and Anil Kumar, students of the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IIT Delhi) from Scheduled Caste communities who died by suicide in 2023, weeks apart; as well as the parents of Dalit students Rohith Vemula and Payal Tadvi, who died by suicide in 2016 and 2019, respectively, due to alleged caste discrimination.

While hearing these cases, the Supreme Court established the NTF in March of this year.

Following the institutes' refusal to collaborate, Justices JB Pardiwala and R Mahadevan expressed their "thorough disappointment" and reminded the institutes that it was "very important" for them to cooperate and participate in the survey.

"This entire exercise is being undertaken in the interest of the students and it is expected of all these institutes to render their full cooperation and assistance to enable the National Task Force to finalise its interim report, if not final, on the subject," the Bench said.

Stating that the institutes had already been reminded multiple times, the bench emphasised the importance of their cooperation in addressing the issue and directed the Centre to once again notify all the institutes to participate in the survey.