Big step of IIT Roorkee for students, preparing draft of comprehensive mental health policy

Taking a major step towards strengthening the mental health of students in higher education institutions, the Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee (IIT Roorkee) on Sunday (February 15) announced that it has started drafting a comprehensive mental health policy for its campus.

This initiative is being considered an important step, which can set a model for other IIT institutes in the country. The first draft of this policy has been prepared by the Institute’s Wellness Centre, which provides mental health services to students, faculty and staff.

The Dean of Student Welfare, Associate Dean of Student Wellness, clinical psychologists from IIT Roorkee, external consultants and faculty members contributed to the drafting of this draft, ensuring that the policy was based on both professional experience and institutional understanding.

The initiative was also strengthened by a special inter-IIT discussion program called ‘Sahayog 2.0’, which aimed to learn from the experiences of different IITs and understand the policies and procedures adopted by them, so as to formulate a comprehensive and inclusive mental health policy.

Sahayog 2.0 builds on the success of Sahayog 1.0, to be held in the year 2024. The program is also in line with the recent directions of the Supreme Court and the University Grants Commission (UGC) emphasizing the importance of mental health management in higher education institutions.

Several issues were discussed during Sahayog 2.0, such as how to formulate and implement mental health policy, the need for prevention and emergency support systems, and the role of wellness centres, counseling cells and student welfare bodies. It was also considered to create clear standard procedure (SOP) in case of crisis and implement the same policy in all IITs.

Representatives from all the IITs, deans, faculty members and mental health experts participated in the event.

Apart from this, experts from AIIMS Rishikesh, Government Medical College and Hospital Chandigarh, Institute of Human Behavior and Allied Sciences, King George Medical University, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Institute of Psychiatry Kolkata, OP Jindal Global University, Mariwala Health Initiative, Delhi University and Special Investigation Force of Uttarakhand Police also participated.

The distinguished officials present also included a Supreme Court lawyer and an anthropologist.

Speaking on this initiative, Director of IIT Roorkee, Prof. KK Pant said that mental health and well-being have now become important pillars of excellence in higher education. He said that initiatives like Sahyog 2.0 show that institutions are taking this responsibility seriously.

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