They’re dream institutions for millions. Names like IIT Bombay and IIM Rohtak conjure images of excellence, innovation, and unmatched opportunity. But behind the glossy brochures and high NIRF rankings lies an uncomfortable question—are India’s top institutions failing their students where it matters the most: emotionally, mentally, and socially?
The UGC Wake-Up Call: Not Just About Forms
In June 2025, the University Grants Commission named 89 higher education institutions that had failed to submit anti-ragging affidavits and compliance reports, despite repeated reminders. These forms are not symbolic—they are legal and psychological safety nets meant to deter ragging and encourage accountability.
That institutions like IIT Bombay—a place rocked by student suicides and mental health protests just a year ago—are on this list speaks volumes. It raises a blunt but necessary question: Is prestige becoming a smokescreen for neglect?
High Pressure, Low Support
India’s elite colleges often double as pressure cookers. The academic competition is fierce, and the expectations are sky-high. But what’s alarmingly low is the emotional support infrastructure.
In 2023, IIT Bombay saw a tragic incident involving Darshan Solanki, a first-year student who died by suicide, allegedly after facing caste-based harassment. The incident led to nationwide outrage and student-led demands for anti-ragging reform. Yet in 2025, IIT Bombay has still not filed anti-ragging compliance.
When Silence Is Institutionalized
For many students, especially those from marginalized communities or smaller towns, these institutes represent more than education—they are a ticket to social mobility. But once admitted, students often find themselves facing:
Isolation due to language or cultural gaps
Discrimination masked as peer “banter” or “tradition”
Mental health challenges worsened by a lack of counselling access
Institutional gaslighting when complaints are ignored or dismissed
In such an environment, even filing a formal ragging complaint feels risky. The lack of visible, enforced anti-ragging protocols only adds to the silence.
Emotional Neglect Is a Form of Failure
When an institution doesn’t ensure student safety—not just physical, but psychological—it has failed, no matter how high its placement stats or GRE scores.
Mental health is not a luxury, and prestige is no substitute for empathy.
The UGC’s list, though bureaucratic in nature, is a symptom of a deeper cultural issue: that student wellbeing is often not treated as seriously as lab results or funding rounds.
What Needs to Change?
To fix this imbalance between prestige and care, elite institutes need to:
Institutionalize empathy: Make mental health and anti-ragging efforts part of academic orientation and leadership training—not just a checkbox.
Empower anonymous reporting: Students need safe, fear-free spaces to speak out.
Make counselling visible and proactive: Not just available—but encouraged and accessible.
Treat emotional wellbeing as infrastructure: As essential as classrooms and hostels.
Every student—whether in a community college or a top-tier IIT—deserves to feel emotionally safe, heard, and protected. Being in a high-ranking college should not come at the cost of peace of mind.
The UGC’s notice is a signal to all institutions: compliance is not enough—culture must change.
