Increase in suicide amongst students of higher education is “alarming” and it calls for immediate measure by all concerned, the Bombay High Court observed on Tuesday. The court added that wellbeing of every student, including mental wellbeing is an integral part of every student in general.
The court was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) petition by child rights activist Shobha Panchmukh, 57, highlighting the increase in suicide amongst students. The plea seeks direction to the Mumbai University (MU) to issue a circular to all affiliated / associated colleges to have counsellors to address and deal with mental health of students. The PIL expressed concern about inadequate measures available so far as curbing suicidal tendencies among students of higher education are concerned.
Petitioner’s advocate pointed out that as per the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) number of suicides committed by students for 2019, 2020 and 2021 are 1487, 1648 and 1834 respectively. This shows an increasing trend.“Well being of every student including mental wellbeing is Integral part of every student in general,” a bench of Chief Justice DK Upadhyaya and Justice Amit Borkar said.
The court noted that Sec 5(36) of the Maharashtra Universities Act casts a duty on the universities to make arrangements for promoting a healthy atmosphere and ensure welfare of students at college, university and institutions. “Thus the University, in our opinion, is duty bound to make measures to create an atmosphere in college and institutions where instances of suicide do not take place,” the bench added.
.jpg)
Taking note of the increasing number of suicides as reflected in the NCRB data, the HC said, “Such a situation is not almost alarming but calls for immediate measures by all concerned.”
State advocate Jyoti Chavan informed the court that they were not treating the plea as adversarial but suggested that the Centre should be added as a respondent since it has special budget allocation for suicide prevention.
Chavan pointed out that University Grants Commission (UGC) should also be added as a respondent since several colleges are now becoming autonomous. “It is a larger issue and not just about the universities,” Chavan submitted.
The bench then asked the petitioner to add UGC as respondent to the PIL.
The high court has asked the Maharashtra government, University of Mumbai and Higher and Technical Education Department to file their affidavits in response to the plea in three weeks. Panchmukh has been asked to file additional affidavit in one week thereafter.
