Mental-health interventions rise across IIT campuses

Indian Institutes of Technology campuses across the country are seeing a surge in students requiring mental health intervention, even as several IITs are taking steps to reduce student stress and enhance their wellbeing amid rising enrolments.

A recent study by emotional wellbeing platform YourDost indicates that the proportion of stress-related cases requiring therapy, psychiatric help or counselling among IIT students has doubled in two years, with four in 10 respondents in 2025-26, up from two in 10 in 2023-24.

YourDost data covering 10,000 students across IIT campuses also reflects a rise in cases of suicidal ideation, homicidal intent and other psychiatric concerns.


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The findings come as IIT Bombay is in the process of drafting a set of measures to reduce stress on students, which is under review by students and faculty and will be implemented soon, according to a source at the institute.

Rising student intakes and coaching-driven learning that leaves some students struggling with IITs’ rigorous academic curriculum have worsened the situation on top of parental expectations and social and peer pressure, according to experts at IIT Kanpur, BITS Pilani and NITs.

“In some institutions, there has perhaps been too much growth, too soon, without commensurate investments in hostels, faculty, counselling, student support systems and other campus infrastructure,” said Ramgopal Rao, group vice-chancellor of Birla Institute of Technology & Science (BITS) Pilani campuses.

A professor at one of the old IITs said the increase in seats is leading to more pressure on the IITs. “Student intake is only rising. There is pressure on infrastructure and faculty as well,” he said on the condition of anonymity.

IIT Kanpur director Manindra Agrawal agreed that IITs have increased the student intake over the years with introduction of EWS quota, supernumerary seats for women and reservations for other categories.

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He, however, noted that IITs “have also increased the focus on mental wellbeing of students.”

IIT Kharagpur’s initiatives include supplementary examinations twice a year, continuous evaluation, and flexible mid-semester evaluations. “The objective is to make our academic processes more student-centric and responsive while maintaining the highest standards of academic rigour and integrity,” its director Suman Chakraborty said.

Rao of BITS Pilani said institutions must continuously ask whether their growth, academic systems and student support mechanisms are keeping pace with each other.

Richa Singh, CEO of YourDost, said academic performance remains a major factor for stress. “But students are also navigating placement and career uncertainty, social isolation, constant digital exposure and comparison, disrupted sleep, and major life transitions such as moving away from home or preparing to graduate,” she said.

According to NIT Jallandhar director Binod Kumar Kanaujia, there is more pressure from the family. “In many cases, we see that students do not get enough support from parents,” he said. “They are often pressurised by parents to perform better. In my opinion, only 5-10% pressure is from academics…rest is peer pressure.”