Ninety-eight students died by suicide in higher education institutions (HEIs) between 2018 and 2023 and the largest chunk of deaths came from IITs, the education ministry told Parliament on Wednesday.

Responding to a question asked by Communist Party of India (Marxist) Rajya Sabha member V Sivadasan, Union minister of state for education Subhas Sarkar submitted the data of students who died by suicide across central universities, Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), National Institutes of Technology (NITs), Indian Institutes of Information Technology (IIITs), Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) and Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research (IISER), in the last five years.

According to the data, of these 98 students, 39 were from IITs, 25 from NITs and 25 from central universities, four from IIMs, three from IISERs and two from IIITs.

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The data showed that 20 cases were reported in 2023, so far, 24 in 2022, seven each in 2021 and 2020, 19 in 2019, and 21 in 2018.

There are 23 IITs campuses in India, 31 NITs, 56 central universities, 20 IIMs, 25 IIITs and seven IISERs.

A raft of high-profile suicides by students in IITs over the past year has generated concern.

Sarkar said that to address mental health and well-being, the University Grants Commission (UGC) took various steps and issued advisories to HEIs. “The UGC has also issued guidelines for promotion of physical fitness, sports, student’s health, welfare, psychological and emotional well- being at HEIs,” he said.

He further said that the ministry took various steps such as peer assisted learning, introduction of technical education in regional languages for students in order to ease the academic stress.

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“The Government of India initiative, named Manodarpan, covers a wide range of activities to provide psychological support to students, teachers and families for mental and emotional well-being during the Covid outbreak and beyond. The ministry has also advised the institutions to make the system more robust that would include prevention, detection and remedial measures for addressing possible cause of suicides,” the minister added.A