For many students, college is the first time they live away from home, manage demanding academics, navigate friendships and relationships, and make decisions about their future, often all at once.

But when that pressure becomes overwhelming, knowing where to turn can make a difference.

This has come into sharp focus at IIT Bombay following the death by suicide of second-year BTech student Sahil Wakode on 18 September. Wakode was found dead in his hostel room hours after an incident during a mid-semester examination. The circumstances surrounding his death are being investigated.

The incident sparked protests on campus, with students raising 18 demands focused on accountability, student welfare, and mental health support. Among them was a specific call for at least one counsellor for every 250 students, one counsellor in every hostel, and regular independent audits of the Student Wellness Centre. 

Students have also sought round-the-clock psychiatric support and mental-health sensitisation for faculty and staff.

The demands have brought an important question to the fore: what does accessible mental health support on a college campus actually look like?

Across India, institutions are approaching this in different ways. Some are bringing trained peers into the conversation, others are creating informal spaces to talk, while some are combining counselling with preventive wellness programmes.

At IIT Madras, students do not have to begin their search for support at a formal counselling room.

The institute's MITR programme offers peer support through trained students and faculty, giving students an additional person they can approach when they are dealing with stress or personal difficulties.

The programme works alongside IIT Madras' professional counselling services and its wider student wellness system. The institute also has counsellors associated with hostels and departments, as well as access to round-the-clock tele-counselling........

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