Two months after the tragic death of 18-year-old student Darshan Solanki, IIT Bombay on Wednesday, April 12, 2023, has launched a 24x7 helpline for all students.
The Dean of Student Affairs (SA) shared a mental health helpline number to all students in the Institute through a message. This number can be approached if one needs emergency counselling. The platform will allow students to chat with counselors through video calls, messages.
This service is provided free of cost to all students. However, many students are skeptical about using the facility owing to breach of trust and confidentiality.
“We only have one number. We don't know who is taking our calls, whether they are sensitive to our problems or qualified to handle them. I found it really hard to trust the service,” a Ph.D student expressed.
Apart from the online service, IIT Bombay has a team of at least six full-time and two part-time counselors at the Powai campus. Students can contact the center to make an appointment for individual counseling sessions. “The student wellness center is definitely a useful concept, but our counselors' approach is not necessarily favorable to us,” said a second-year student.
While some IITians also admitted that they are not very aware of the working hours of the Student Wellness Centre. This 24-hour helpline is a relief to many who know that they can make an emergency call at any time of the day without worrying about their counselors being transferred.
“Helplines and centers can only help us with problems like academic stress and breakups. Beyond that, if I have mental health problems, I have to refer to help outside the institute,” opines a student who has lived on the IIT-B campus for the past seven years.
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