The Weight of Excellence: Student Suicides Cast Shadow Over India’s Elite IITs

Nashik, India – Sanjay Nerkar instinctively waits for a phone call that will never come. For nearly a decade, his son, Varad, called him every evening, simply to hear his voice. That routine ended two years ago when Varad, 26, died by suicide after achieving a lifelong dream: admission to one of India’s prestigious Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs).

Varad’s story, shared by his father with Al Jazeera, is tragically not unique. Across the 23 IITs, including the seven established before 2000, a disturbing trend is emerging. Since 2021, eight students have died by suicide at IIT-Delhi alone, and a total of 65 student suicides have been recorded across all IITs, according to data cited by the Global IIT-IIM Alumni Support Group.

The IITs represent the pinnacle of academic achievement in India. In 2025, approximately 1.3 million high school graduates competed for just 18,000 Bachelor of Technology (BTech) seats through the rigorous Joint Entrance Examination (JEE). For Master of Technology (MTech) programs, competition is similarly fierce, with roughly one in 117 applicants securing admission. Graduates often go on to lead global companies – alumni include Google CEO Sundar Pichai and IBM CEO Arvind Krishna – and contribute significantly to India’s economic growth. An AI-driven career data platform, 6figr.com, reports that IIT graduates working in the United States earn an average of $216,000 to $235,000 annually.

Yet, behind the veneer of success lies a growing crisis. Despite the promise of lucrative careers, life at the IITs is marked by intense pressure and relentless competition. In 2024, approximately 38% of IIT graduates went unplaced, a statistic often downplayed by the institutions to maintain their prestige, according to Dheeraj Singh, founder of the Global IIT-IIM Alumni Support Group.

“Being an IITian is not just a tag; it brings respect to the entire family,” Singh told Al Jazeera. But that respect comes with immense expectations. “When academic pressure combines with placement stress, the situation becomes extremely serious.”

The pressure isn’t solely academic. Ramesh Solanki, a plumber from Gujarat, recounted his son Darshan’s experience at IIT-Bombay. Darshan, who also cleared the IIT entrance exam, faced alleged mockery from peers over his caste background. The Solankis are Dalit, a historically marginalized community in India. “We belong to a lower caste. Why should that matter?” Solanki asked, heartbroken. Data supports the concern: between 2014 and 2021, over 55% of student suicides at the IITs, IIMs, central universities, and other federally-funded institutes involved students from marginalized communities.

Further exacerbating the problem is a power imbalance between PhD scholars and their supervisors. Students often face uncertainty as fellowships end after five years, leaving their thesis approval – and future – entirely dependent on their supervisor. Recent announcements that PhD scholars unable to complete their thesis within seven years could face termination have only heightened anxieties. The suicide of Ramswroop Ishram, a PhD scholar at IIT-Kanpur, prompted student protests earlier this year, demanding accountability from the administration.

A former Supreme Court judge, S Ravindra Bhat, now chairs a National Task Force on Mental Health tasked with addressing these concerns and creating a framework for student wellbeing. The task force has received thousands of complaints and is compiling data for review by the authorities.

Experts say the suicides are preventable. Aqsa Sheikh, a doctor and member of the National Task Force on Student Suicide Prevention, emphasized the need for proactive intervention. “Students under severe stress are unlikely to seek help on their own. Institutes must identify them and make the first move.”

While the IITs have appointed mental health counselors, many believe their efforts are insufficient. Singh’s support group has counselled hundreds of students, highlighting a gap between available resources and the scale of the problem. He argues that the issue isn’t a lack of resources, but a lack of intent.

The crisis at the IITs underscores a broader issue of mental health and societal pressure within India’s highly competitive education system. As Varad Nerkar’s father poignantly stated, “If I had known what IIT-Delhi would take away from me, I would never have sent him.” His grief serves as a stark reminder of the human cost of striving for excellence.