Expressing concern over recurring student suicides across Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), the Central Information Commission (CIC) has directed the institutions to constitute high-level committees to recommend measures for preventing such deaths and mitigating the factors that contribute to them.

The direction came while disposing of appeals filed by Dheeraj Kumar Singh, an alumnus of IIT-Kanpur and founder of a non-governmental organisation (NGO) engaged in student rehabilitation and mental health counselling.

Mr. Singh, under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005, had sought details regarding the students, research scholars, and staff who ended their lives at IIT-Madras, IIT-Kanpur, IIT-Goa, and IIT-Jodhpur since January 1, 2005.

He wanted information including age, gender, caste/category, academic programme, native State, date of suicide, and whether the death occurred on the campus. Stating that the details were required for academic research, he said the names of the deceased could be withheld if necessary.

In response, IIT-Madras informed him that seven suicides had been reported between 2019 and June 26, 2025, but declined to disclose personal details, such as age and caste, citing the exemption under Section 8(1)(j) of the Act relating to personal information. The First Appellate Authority upheld the decision. IIT-Kanpur informed the applicant that 17 suicides had been reported between 2005 and 2025. The data furnished by the institute showed that at least one suicide was reported every year during the period, with three cases recorded in 2024. However, it too withheld the personal particulars of the deceased under Section 8(1)(j).

Similarly, IIT-Goa denied disclosure of personal information, describing it as third-party information exempt from disclosure, while IIT-Jodhpur informed the applicant that no such cases had been reported. Aggrieved over the denial of complete information, Mr. Singh moved an appeal before the CIC. He contended that the information he had called for was essential to analyse the root causes of student suicides across factors such as age, gender, and social category, and would help strengthen his organisation’s mental health counselling programmes for students facing academic and personal stress.

The information was crucial to strengthen the NGO’s programmes for uplift and counselling of students. The IITs, however, maintained that disclosure of the age, caste, and identity of deceased students would violate the privacy of the individuals and their families.

Referring to the Supreme Court’s judgment in the Justice K.S. Puttaswamy (Retd.) versus Union of India case, provisions of the Mental Healthcare Act, 2017, and the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, the institutions argued that such information constituted protected personal data and could not be disclosed in the absence of an overriding public interest.

Central Information Commissioner Sudha Rani Relangi said the institutes had already furnished information, including the number of deaths, date of occurrence, gender, native place, and place of death, while withholding names, age and caste/category on privacy grounds. The replies of the Central Public Information Officers were legally sustainable.

However, the Commission expressed concern over the continuing incidence of suicides on campuses of IITs.

Referring to the “persistent crisis” of multiple suicides reported annually across several IITs, particularly at campuses such as IIT-Kanpur and IIT-Kharagpur, it observed that there was an urgent need for institutions to strengthen preventive mechanisms.

The Commission directed IITs to constitute high-level committees, where such bodies have not already been formed, to identify and recommend measures to mitigate the factors contributing to student suicides.

It also asked that information relating to the constitution of these committees be proactively disclosed on the institutes’ official websites, in line with the RTI Act. The direction was in tune with the observations of the Supreme Court in the Kishan Chand Jain versus Union of India case.

(Assistance for overcoming suicidal thoughts is available on the State’s health helpline 104, Tele-MANAS 14416. and Sneha’s suicide prevention helpline 044-24640050)