{
  "id": 10690969,
  "title": "Student Suicides: Why Removing Ceiling Fans Alone Cannot Address Mental Health Crisis On Campuses",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/29/student-suicides-why-removing-ceiling-fans-alone-cannot-address",
  "topic": "health",
  "section": "Health & Medicine",
  "published": "2026-09-29T12:41:31.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Free Press Journal",
    "slug": "free-press-journal",
    "url": "https://www.freepressjournal.in/mumbai/student-suicides-why-removing-ceiling-fans-alone-cannot-address-mental-health-crisis-on-campuses"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Back-to-back student suicides at two leading engineering institutes, IIT Bombay and Birla Institute of Technology (BIT), Mesra, have once again highlighted the pressures faced by students. The suicides have prompted the institutes to consider changes to ceiling fans in hostel rooms as a preventive measure. However, mental health professionals argue that such physical interventions alone are insufficient. To effectively prevent student suicides, they say sustained counselling, stronger support systems, and changes to a highly competitive academic environment are necessary to address the feelings of isolation and overwhelm that students may experience. The debate was heightened following the suicide of IIT Bombay student, Sahil Wakode, who was found hanging from a ceiling fan in his room on September 18. In response, IIT Bombay began replacing ceiling fans with wall-mounted ones in July, after another student's suicide. Similarly, BIT Mesra has started replacing ceiling fans with models fitted with \"anti-suicide rods\". These measures aim to reduce the availability of one method of self-harm, but mental health experts believe they are merely cosmetic if institutions do not tackle the underlying distress that drives students to self-harm. Clinical psychologist Shweta Sharma points out that the atmosphere in institutions like IITs and IIMs does not encourage emotional expression, with about 60% to 70% of her patients coming from these institutions. While these students have high academic abilities, they often struggle with social and relationship issues. There is a pressing need for mental wellness support, which is currently lacking in higher education. The lack of adequate student-to-counsellor ratio exacerbates this problem. A nationwide survey by the Supreme Court-appointed National Task Force found that 67% of the 2.43 lakh respondents were from SC, ST, and OBC communities. About 15% of students reported feeling overwhelmed or distressed in the past six months, and 9% had suicidal thoughts often or very often in the previous year. Around 34% of students felt like outsiders on campus, with 56% trusting their administration to handle serious issues fairly but 32% stating their institute did not offer counselling services. While removing ceiling fans might provide temporary reassurance, experts argue it is a systemic issue requiring a broader approach, including well-trained therapists, counselling services, and addressing the root causes of student distress.",
  "summary": "Back-to-back student suicides at two leading engineering institutes have once again brought the pressures faced by students into focus. The deaths have also prompted IIT Bombay and Birla Institute of Technology (BIT), Mesra, to look at changes to ceiling fans in hostel rooms as a preventive measure. But mental health professionals and educationists argue that physical interventions can only go so…",
  "key_points": [
    "Student suicides at IIT Bombay and BIT Mesra highlight campus mental health crisis.",
    "Ceiling fans replaced as preventive measure, but experts say insufficient.",
    "Mental health professionals call for counseling, support systems, and environment changes."
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}