IIT Kharagpur forms 10-member committee to address mental health, well-being of students, staff members

Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur (IIT Kharagpur) has formed a ten-member committee to address the factors affecting the mental health and well-being of students, faculty, and staff. The move from the technology institute comes after three engineering students allegedly died by suicide in the campus. India-Pakistan Ceasefire LIVE.

The committee will include expert psychologists, legal and police professionals, educationists, counsellors, and alumni, to assess factors such as primary, secondary or tertiary, affecting the mental health of students, including staff members, IIT Kharagpur said in an official statement.

Recently, the Supreme Court of India also expressed its concern over the student's deaths in IIT Kharagpur, and asked the institute whether First Information Report (FIRs) were being registered in these “unnatural deaths”.

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Three deaths at IIT Kharagpur campus in 2025

The committee, formed by IIT Kharagpur, will also identify the challenges including “inadequate resources, administrative shortfalls, academic environment, but not limited to,” that are taking a toll on the mental health issues of the students, the institute said.

“The committee will take stock of initiatives that are in place to address such issues and to recommend further measures that can bolster the mental health eco-system of students, staff and faculty in IIT Kharagpur campus,” the institute added.

The panel will also be interacting with all stakeholders to get some information from specific areas related to the terms of reference of the committee. Notably, IIT Kharagpur-led committee will submit a report within three months over the death of students in the campus.

Two BTech students from the premier institute died by suicide within a month of each casualty. Students Federation of India has also urged IIT Kharagpur to probe these deaths and requested the government to implement a mechanism to address the mental health of students.