Student suicides: SC-appointed taskforce gets time till October 31 for final report

2 min readNew DelhiJun 13, 2026 06:47 PM IST

While constituting the task force in March 2025, the Supreme Court had requested an interim report within four months, and a final report preferably within eight months. (File photo)

The Supreme Court-appointed National Task Force (NTF) on student mental health and student suicides was last month granted time until October 31 to submit its final report concerning student suicides after the Taskforce requested for the same, stating that it is presently in the process of consolidating data in this regard.

While constituting the task force in March 2025, the Supreme Court had requested an interim report within four months, and a final report preferably within eight months.

In a status report filed before the Supreme Court on May 18, the NTF—headed by former Supreme Court judge Justice S Ravindra Bhat—said it has received responses from 16,732 higher educational institutions and 12,88,683 students through a nationwide survey conducted between August and December 2025.

The exercise also gathered responses from 1,59,881 faculty members, 2,25,825 parents, 6,859 mental health service providers, and another 2,25,460 public feedback submissions.

Requesting further time, the NTF said that it is “in the process of consolidating institutional data, stakeholder inputs, field observations, and survey findings for the purpose of preparing comprehensive recommendations concerning student mental health and suicide prevention in higher educational institutions”.

The NTF’s interim findings, released on June 8, argued that student suicides in India cannot be understood merely as a mental health issue but are often rooted in deeper structural problems, including discrimination, exclusion, financial vulnerability, institutional failures and inaccessible support systems.

The NTF has so far visited 31 higher educational institutions across the country, ranging from elite institutes and central universities to private universities, medical colleges, law schools, nursing colleges and mental health institutions.

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The NTF members interacted with students, faculty members, counsellors, wardens and administrators to understand issues relating to “student mental health, institutional support systems, grievance redressal mechanisms, counselling infrastructure, discrimination, accessibility and student well-being”.

Hearing a matter on the death of two students at IIT Delhi, the Supreme Court constituted the NTF in March last year to look into mental health concerns among students, and make recommendations on improving student mental health and prevention of suicides in higher education institutions.

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Vidheesha Kuntamalla is a Senior Correspondent at The Indian Express, based in New Delhi. She is known for her investigative reporting on higher education policy, international student immigration, and academic freedom on university campuses. Her work consistently connects policy decisions with lived realities, foregrounding how administrative actions, political pressure, and global shifts affect students, faculty, and institutions.

Professional Profile

Core Beat: Vidheesha covers education in Delhi and nationally, reporting on major public institutions including the University of Delhi (DU), Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), Jamia Millia Islamia, the IITs, and the IIMs. She also reports extensively on private and government schools in the National Capital Region.

Prior to joining The Indian Express, she worked as a freelance journalist in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh for over a year, covering politics, rural issues, women-centric issues, and social justice.

Specialisation: She has developed a strong niche in reporting on the Indian student diaspora, particularly the challenges faced by Indian students and H-1B holders in the United States. Her work examines how geopolitical shifts, immigration policy changes, and campus politics impact global education mobility.

She has also reported widely on:

* Mental health crises and student suicides at IITs

* Policy responses to campus mental health

* Academic freedom and institutional clampdowns at JNU, South Asian University (SAU), and Delhi University

* Curriculum and syllabus changes under the National Education Policy

Her recent reporting has included deeply reported human stories on policy changes during the Trump administration and their consequences for Indian students and researchers in the US.

Reporting Style

Vidheesha is recognised for a human-centric approach to policy reporting, combining investigative depth with intimate storytelling. Her work often highlights the anxieties of students and faculty navigating bureaucratic uncertainty, legal precarity, and institutional pressure. She regularly works with court records, internal documents, official data, and disciplinary frameworks to expose structural challenges to academic freedom.

Recent Notable Articles (Late 2024 & 2025)

1. Express Investigation Series

JNU’s fault lines move from campus to court: University fights students and faculty (November 2025)

An Indian Express investigation found that since 2011, JNU has appeared in over 600 cases before the Delhi High Court, filed by the administration, faculty, staff, students, and contractual workers across the tenures of three Vice-Chancellors.

JNU’s legal wars with students and faculty pile up under 3 V-Cs | Rs 30-lakh fines chill campus dissent (November 2025)

The report traced how steep monetary penalties — now codified in the Chief Proctor’s Office Manual — are reshaping dissent and disciplinary action on campus.

2. International Education & Immigration

‘Free for a day. Then came ICE’: Acquitted after 43 years, Indian-origin man faces deportation — to a country he has never known (October 2025)

H-1B $100,000 entry fee explained: Who pays, who’s exempt, and what’s still unclear? (September 2025)

Khammam to Dallas, Jhansi to Seattle — audacious journeys in pursuit of the American dream after H-1B visa fee hike (September 2025)

What a proposed 15% cap on foreign admissions in the US could mean for Indian students (October 2025)

Anxiety on campus after Trump says visas of pro-Palestinian protesters will be cancelled (January 2025)

‘I couldn’t believe it’: F-1 status of some Indian students restored after US reverses abrupt visa terminations (April 2025)

3. Academic Freedom & Policy

Exclusive: South Asian University fires professor for ‘inciting students’ during stipend protests (September 2025)

Exclusive: Ministry seeks explanation from JNU V-C for skipping Centre’s meet, views absence ‘seriously’ (July 2025)

SAU rows after Noam Chomsky mentions PM Modi, Lankan scholar resigns, PhD student exits SAU

A series of five stories examining shrinking academic freedom at South Asian University after global scholar Noam Chomsky referenced Prime Minister Narendra Modi during an academic interaction, triggering administrative unease and renewed debate over political speech, surveillance, and institutional autonomy on Indian campuses.

4. Mental Health on Campuses

In post-pandemic years, counselling rooms at IITs are busier than ever; IIT-wise data shows why (August 2025)

Campus suicides: IIT-Delhi panel flags toxic competition, caste bias, burnout (April 2025)

5. Delhi Schools

These Delhi government school grads are now success stories. Here’s what worked — and what didn’t (February 2025)

‘Ma’am… may I share something?’ Growing up online and alone, why Delhi’s teens are reaching out (December 2025) ... Read More

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