IIT Kharagpur distributes wellbeing cards to 16,500 students to promote mental health

KOLKATA: IIT Kharagpur has distributed personalised wellbeing cards to 16,500 students as part of a series of initiatives to promote mental health and create a supportive campus environment, the institute said on Wednesday. Marking World Mental Health Day, Dean of Student Wellbeing, Prof Arun Chakraborty, emphasised that mental health was an integral part of everyday life and stressed the need for an environment in which every student felt heard, understood and supported.

Eleven short films made by students exploring mental health beyond illness and clinical diagnoses were screened at a programme. "In a remarkable gesture of care, SETU undertook the initiative of reaching out to 16,500 students with personalised wellbeing cards.

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The G-Sec Welfare Team worked tirelessly through the night, with support from the Institute's Security Section, to ensure that the cards reached students across the campus," the institute said in a statement. SETU refers to the integrated student campus at IIT Kharagpur initiative and mobile application designed to provide holistic wellbeing, mental health support, academic tracking, and emergency assistance.

The message comes days after the death of a second-year BTech student at IIT Bombay. Seven student deaths were reported at IIT Kharagpur in 2025, while on August 13 this year, a second-year mechanical engineering student from Rajasthan died after allegedly falling from the third floor of a building on the campus.