**Executive Summary**
This document is a response to Unstarred Question No. 347 in Lok Sabha, answered on February 2, 2026, concerning the status of SC/ST students in Central Universities, IITs, IIMs, and IISc. It provides enrolment data for 2014-15 and 2022-23 (provisional), confirms the presence of functional SC/ST cells in these institutions, and highlights government initiatives to address student suicide.
**Key Points / Main Content**
* **Enrolment Data (SC/ST):**
* Provides a table with the number of SC and ST students in Central Universities (CU), IITs, IIMs, and IISc for the academic years 2014-15 and 2022-23 (provisional).
* **SC/ST Cells:**
* All Central Universities and their constituent colleges, IITs, IIMs, and IISc have functional SC/ST cells.
* **Student Suicide Data:**
* Comprehensive data on accidental deaths and suicides in the country is published in the annual Accidental Death & Suicide in India (ADSI) report by the National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB).
* ADSI reports are accessible at the provided URL.
* **Government Initiatives to Address Suicide:**
* The Government is taking multi-pronged measures and providing psychological support to students, teachers, and families.
* Manodarpan, an initiative of the Ministry of Education, covers activities providing psychological support:
* National toll-free helpline
* Live interactive sessions ('Sahyog')
* Webinars ('Paricharcha') to create awareness about mental health.
**Impact Analysis**
**Stakeholder: Central Universities, IITs, IIMs, and IISc**
* **Impact:** Confirms their compliance with having functional SC/ST cells.
* **Action Required:** Continue to maintain and utilize their SC/ST cells to support students.
**Stakeholder: SC/ST Students**
* **Impact:** Provides data about their enrolment in higher education institutions. Highlights resources available to them through government initiatives.
* **Action Required:** Utilise the resources, such as the toll-free helpline, offered by the government to support their mental and emotional well-being.
**Stakeholder: Teachers and Families of Students**
* **Impact:** Highlights government initiatives to support their mental and emotional well-being.
* **Action Required:** Encourage students to utilise the support resources available and participate in activities promoting mental health awareness.
**Stakeholder: Ministry of Education**
* **Impact:** Highlights their initiatives (e.g., Manodarpan) to address student mental health.
* **Action Required:** Continue to support and expand initiatives like Manodarpan to provide mental and emotional support to students, teachers, and families.
Key Entities Referenced
Ministry of Education: The primary ministry responsible for the information provided in response to the parliamentary question.
SC/ST: Refers to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, the specific student categories addressed in the question regarding enrollment and support.
Central Universities/IITs/IIMs and IISc: The higher education institutions specifically named in the parliamentary question about SC/ST student enrollment and support.
All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE): The data source used to provide enrollment statistics for SC/ST students in the mentioned institutions.
Accidental Death & Suicide in India (ADSI): The report published by the NCRB, which contains comprehensive data on accidental deaths and suicides in the country, including students.
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF EDUCATION
DEPARTMENT OF HIGHER EDUCATION
LOK SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION No. 347
ANSWERED ON 02.02.2026
SC/ST Students in Central Universities/IITs/IIMs and IISc
347. Dr. Sharmila Sarkar:
Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state:
(a) the details of the number of SC/ST students in central universities, IITs, IIMs and IISc since
2014, year and institution-wise;
(b) the details of the institutions without SC/ST cells and those with non-operational SC/ST
cells; and
(c) the details of the number of SC/ST student suicides since 2014, year and institution-wise?
ANSWER
MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION
(DR. SUKANTA MAJUMDAR)
(a): As per All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE), number of students belonging to
SC/ST category in Central Universities (CU), Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), Indian
Institutes of Management (IIMs) and Indian Institute of Science (IISc) in the year 2014-15 and
2022-23(Provisional) is given as under:
Enrolment
Institution
2014-15 2022-23(Provisional)
Type
SC ST SC ST
CU 71,621 25,964 89,182 32,801
IIT 10,392 4,546 18,076 7,408
IIM 983 410 2,537 942
IISc 144 65 156 51
(b): All Central Universities and their constituents’ colleges, IITs, IIMs and IISc have
functional SC/ST cells.
(c): Comprehensive analysis of the data related to the accidental deaths and suicides in the
country is published in the yearly Accidental Death & Suicide in India (ADSI) report byNational Crime Record Bureau (NCRB). Year wise and State wise details of students suicide
are available in the ADSI reports which are accessible at https://www.ncrb.gov.in/accidental-
deaths-suicides-in-india-year-wise.html
To address the issue of suicide, the Government is taking multi-pronged measures and
provides psychological support to students, teachers, and families for mental and emotional
well-being to avoid incidences of suicide. An initiative of Ministry of Education, Manodarpan,
covers a wide range of activities to provide psychological support to students, teachers and
families for mental and emotional well-being such as National toll-free helpline that has been
extending guidance to callers through trained counsellor; and live interactive sessions ‘Sahyog’
and Webinars ‘Paricharcha’ that are organized regularly to create awareness about the
importance of mental health among all stakeholders, students in all States/UTs.
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