SC ‘thoroughly disappointed’ as 57,000 institutes skip student suicide survey; warns of action

Expressing disappointment upon learning that 57,000 institutes are yet to respond to the questionnaire on student suicides so far, the Supreme Court asked the institutions to join the survey or face action. The top court was hearing a matter regarding the release of post-matric scholarships.

SC directed the Union government to take up the issue “very seriously” with the institutes, highlighting the significance of their cooperation. The court was told that the institutions did not respond despite four reminders sent by the Centre. It recalled that the exercise is being undertaken in the interest of students and the institutes’ assistance is required to help the National Task Force finalise its interim report on the subject.

Senior counsel Harish Salve submitted that he would take up the issue with all the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) across the country and urge them to join the survey and render their cooperation.

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Warning the institutions of action, the SC said in its order, “We would like to give one last opportunity to all these institutes to cooperate and join the survey, failing which we may have to pass some orders which the institutes may not like and may bring a bad name to the respective institutes.”

The 10-member NTF has been tasked with determining the root causes of student suicide deaths by taking public opinions, interacting with educational institutions, and holding discussions with mental health experts, students, and parents. It has four months to submit the interim report on the study and eight months for the final one.

A bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and R Mahadevan, in March this year, formed a task force to address the mental health of students and prevent suicides in higher educational institutions, in view of the rising number of student suicides .

Disbursal of post-matric scholarships

Noting the findings on the actual issue, the application was about, the court questioned the delay in disbursal of the scholarship amount to the students even when the application is sanctioned.

Amicus Curiae Aparna Bhat urged the SC to direct the states and union territories to ensure the timely disbursement of scholarships and not to cancel any student’s admission or deny a chance to appear in exams on account of pending post-matric scholarships.