Back-to-back student suicides at IIT Bombay and BIT Mesra have renewed debate over replacing hostel ceiling fans. Experts say physical safeguards alone cannot address student distress and call for accessible counselling, stronger support systems, action against bullying and changes to highly competitive campus environments.

Recent student deaths have renewed debate over suicide-prevention measures and mental health support in higher education institutions | AI Generated Representational Image

Back-to-back student suicides at two leading engineering institutes have once again brought the pressures faced by students into focus. The deaths have also prompted IIT Bombay and Birla Institute of Technology (BIT), Mesra, to look at changes to ceiling fans in hostel rooms as a preventive measure.

But mental health professionals and educationists argue that physical interventions can only go so far. In their view, preventing student suicides requires sustained counselling, stronger support systems and changes to an intensely competitive educational environment that can leave students feeling isolated and overwhelmed.

Beyond The Ceiling Fan

The debate gained urgency after IIT Bombay student Sahil Wakode was found hanging from a ceiling fan in his room on September 18. Sources said the institute had begun replacing ceiling fans with wall-mounted ones in July after another student died by suicide.

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The following day, a student from BIT Mesra was found dead in her room. An official said the institute is now replacing ceiling fans in hostels with models fitted with “anti-suicide rods”.

The measures echo steps taken in Kota three years ago, when 25 students preparing for competitive examinations died by suicide. The administration in the coaching hub subsequently mandated hostels across the city to install “anti-suicide spring-loaded ceiling fans” and “anti-suicide nets” in balconies and lobbies.

Such measures may reduce access to one means of self-harm, but experts believe they risk becoming cosmetic if institutions fail to address the distress that drives students towards self-harm in the first place.

Counselling Cannot Be An Afterthought

Clinical psychologist Shweta Sharma said the environment in institutions such as the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) does not encourage emotional expression.

About 60% to 70% of her patients are from the IITs and Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs), she said. While these students have high IQs and perform well academically, “they are also the ones struggling the most with relationship and social things”, PTI reports.

“There is a special need to focus on mental wellness. Having this fan or that fan is not the issue, you are actually working on the physical aspect of the problem, mental health support is still missing in higher educational institutions,” Sharma told PTI.

She also pointed to an inadequate student-to-counsellor ratio. The concern highlights a wider problem: students may spend years competing to enter prestigious institutions only to find themselves struggling with academic, social and emotional pressures once they get there.

Numbers Point To A Wider Crisis

Official data shows that 45 student suicides were reported across 23 IITs between 2020-21 and 2024-25. Of these, 28 involved students from Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST) and Other Backward Classes (OBC) communities.

A nationwide survey conducted by a Supreme Court-appointed National Task Force (NTF) further underlines the scale of student distress. The survey, accessed by PTI, received responses from more than 2.43 lakh students, 67% of whom belonged to SC, ST and OBC categories.

About 15% of students recalled a period during the previous six months when they felt very overwhelmed or distressed, or experienced low moods or anxiety continuously for several weeks. Nine per cent reported experiencing suicidal thoughts often or very often during the previous year.

The survey also found that about 34% of students reported feeling like outsiders on campus to varying degrees. While 56% indicated that they trusted their administration to handle serious issues fairly, roughly 32% said their institute did not offer counselling services.

The findings are expected to form part of the NTF’s final report, which is expected to be submitted by October 31.

‘A Systemic Issue’

Senior therapist Maitri Chand described students harming themselves as a “systemic issue”, arguing that removing ceiling fans may offer reassurance but cannot address the problem in isolation.

“The optics of taking such an action might help people to feel a little reassured about their own actions, for them to then know that they have done something about an issue like this. But it’s a systemic thing and cannot be looked at in isolation,” Chand told PTI.

She said that for measures such as removing ceiling fans to work, they must be accompanied by a much broader systemic shift. Institutions, she said, should have counselling departments staffed by well-trained therapists who understand the nuances of child development.

That distinction is crucial. Changing physical infrastructure can be one layer of prevention, but treating it as the central response risks overlooking the academic pressure, isolation, bullying and mental health concerns that experts say also require attention.

Supreme Court, UGC Step In

The Supreme Court in March 2025 emphasised the need to address mental health concerns among students in higher education institutions and constituted the National Task Force.

According to the NTF website, its mandate is to “deliberate on student mental health issues, recommend preventive measures to reduce student suicides, and strengthen support systems across higher educational institutions”.

In January this year, the University Grants Commission (UGC) mandated all higher educational institutions to establish “a structured, comprehensive mental health and well-being framework” following Supreme Court directives.

Aparajita Gautam of the Delhi Parents Association said institutions must focus on the root causes and take strict measures against bullying rather than rely on cosmetic solutions.

“We should work on the root cause. Issues like doing away with ceiling fans are not going to solve the problem. There should be a directive for everyone and there should be a directive to take strict action if anyone does these things, whether it is bullying or anything else,” Gautam said.

Human Connection Matters

Educationist Suparna Diwakar stressed the importance of trained counsellors who can help students develop connections with their peers and faculty.

“Having somebody who is dedicatedly spending time with students one-on-one makes a huge difference. Students begin to feel very isolated when they are transitioning from school to college. We need human connection, especially in very large institutions. Relationships are an important part of the education process,” she said.

On institutions replacing ceiling fans, Diwakar said it is “one of the things that people are attempting” and that a complex issue such as student suicide requires “a multi-pronged approach”.

“So people will try different measures. And I think people on the ground, people who are in the context, feel that this is one of the things that might help. I feel that multi-pronged approaches are required for handling complex issues,” said Diwakar, founder-director of virtual education hub Punarnava Infinity.

Diwakar, who served in the technical secretariat for the National Curriculum Framework and the task force for implementing the National Education Policy 2020 in Karnataka, said policy changes such as the NEP and the national curriculum for school education encourage “collaborative competition” instead of the “cut-throat competition” that has been the norm.

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The emerging picture is therefore larger than the question of whether a hostel room has a ceiling fan. Physical safeguards may form one part of prevention, but the survey findings and experts’ views point towards a deeper need for accessible counselling, stronger institutional support, action against bullying and an educational culture in which seeking emotional help does not become another hurdle for students to overcome.

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