India has long been grappling with the tragedy of student suicides. According to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), over 13,000 students took their own lives in 2022—accounting for 7.6 per cent of all suicides in the country that year. The crisis has become so acute that the Supreme Court recently described it as a “suicide epidemic.”
This year, however, marks a turning point. In two landmark judgments—Amit Kumar v Union of India and Sukhdeb Saha v State of Andhra Pradesh—the Court has taken proactive steps to address the crisis. In Amit Kumar, it ordered the formation of a National Task Force to investigate the root causes of student suicides and propose a long-term regulatory framework. More recently, in Sukhdeb Saha, the Supreme Court issued a comprehensive set of interim guidelines aimed at curbing suicides among students, particularly in higher education institutions. These guidelines represent a crucial first step toward building a mental health support system within India’s education ecosystem.
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