Supreme Court and UGC Direct Higher Education Institutions on Student Suicide Reporting and Mental Health Support

The Supreme Court has directed all higher education institutions (HEIs) in India to promptly report any student suicide or unnatural death to police and submit annual data to regulatory bodies. It mandated round-the-clock access to qualified medical help in residential HEIs and ordered filling all vacant faculty and administrative positions within four months, prioritizing reserved categories. Concurrently, the University Grants Commission (UGC) released draft guidelines requiring HEIs to establish dedicated mental health and well-being centres, maintain standardized counsellor-to-student ratios, and operate 24x7 helplines to support student mental health, following the Court's call for a uniform national policy amid rising student suicides.