New Delhi: In the wake of student suicides, National Law University (NLU) Delhi has initiated measures to enhance support on campus, including approving a “no-detention policy” for students till the fifth year, offering “compassionate leave”, expanding the mental well-being and counselling department, and putting up a comprehensive “plan of action” to facilitate the reintegration of students into university life, ThePrint has learnt.
Last month, three students from the university allegedly died by suicide. The first incident occurred on 4 September at a campus hostel, while the other two took place off-campus on 22 September and 30 September.
Since the 4 September incident, NLU Delhi has taken steps to ease burden on students, such as relaxing the detention policy, extending hours of availability of counsellors and holding mental health workshops.
Some students and faculty members who spoke to ThePrint on condition of anonymity said they believe these deaths cannot be directly linked to academic pressure or campus activities. However, several students also said that the reforms in terms of mental health support and relaxation of academic burden were long overdue.
Stressing on the intense challenges of gaining admission to the university, a third-year law student said: “Getting into NLU is incredibly difficult, and once you do, the competitive atmosphere combined with substantial academic pressure creates a significant strain. This has led to a growing mental health crisis on campus that has been simmering for some time.”
“While there were counsellors available previously, there was a lack of open conversation on mental health issues,” she added.
A final year student pointed to “relentless pressure” to secure high-quality internships and job placements, a reality that is particularly pronounced in such a competitive field.
“The nature of our discipline is very competitive, which intensifies the stress we experience. As a result, mental health support becomes not just beneficial but essential,” the student said.
In a communication to ThePrint, registrar Ruhi Paul said the university had hired one more counsellor and one consulting psychiatrist who would visit the campus thrice a week.
“This would allow the students to reach out to an expert for accessing clinical support in terms of medication and reviewing their respective progress. We now have two counsellors and one consulting psychiatrist, and the YourDOST online platform which is available 24×7 and offers counselling services. Further, a team of four members manages the University Medical Centre,” she stated in an email response to queries.
She added that the university recently conducted three programmes—a ‘Student Well-being & Mental Health Workshop’ by experts from AIIMS, ‘Ubuntu-Student Wellbeing Program’ by mental health experts, and EMDR (eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing) sessions held by a team of skilled practitioners, aimed at symptom management.
She also confirmed that the university had implemented a “no-detention policy”.
According to the registrar, classes were conducted in hybrid mode from 9 September to 4 October so that students could study from the “comfort of their home”. Physical classes were fully resumed from 7 October.
Also Read: Indraprastha University student suicide brings up a storm of anger and a long list of woes
On 9 September, soon after the first case of alleged suicide, NLU Delhi issued a notification announcing that it had approved a “no-detention policy” following requests from the students’ academic committee.
“…The competent authority has approved the No Detention Policy, under which no student will be detained until the fifth Year. Students will be given the following four opportunities to pass the programme, including end semester examinations, repeat examinations with their batch, repeat examinations with the junior batch, and a special repeat examination after the completion of the fifth year,” the notification stated.
“This policy will apply to students detained due to examinations conducted during the academic years 2022-23 and 2023-24,” it added.
Earlier, all students were promoted to second year, but they had to pass all first-year courses to be promoted to third year. Similarly, for promotion to the fourth and fifth years, a student must have passed all the courses in the first, second and third years.
“The relaxation of the detention policy is a big relief for students. Last year, a large number of students were detained in the second and third year after failing in some subjects,” a senior NLU Delhi faculty member told ThePrint.
On 2 October, the academic committee of the university also issued an advisory allowing compassionate leave and attendance to students. In an email, the committee said the well-being of students was their “top priority, and anything else, even academics, should take a backseat.”
It said that in case students were not in a position to attend classes in the next few weeks, they should not hesitate to apply for compassionate leave.
“During this time, you should not be concerned about your attendance. We understand the circumstances, and your absence will be handled accordingly for the semester,” read the email, which has been accessed by ThePrint.
According to the university’s norms, every student has to secure a minimum of 75 percent of attendance in every course to be eligible to appear for the end semester examination.
Ahead of the resumption of physical classes, registrar Paul sent a mail to all students and faculty members reiterating the facilities put in place to ensure well-being on campus.
“We understand the stress and anxiety that some of the students may be facing in returning back to the campus, and in view of this we have made elaborate plans to facilitate a smooth resumption of physical classes from the hybrid mode. We have put in place additional facilities and student well-being support on campus,” she stated. ThePrint has seen the mail.
According to the email, the university has expanded the mental well-being and counselling department, requesting an additional psychiatrist to offer consultancy services at the campus between 4 pm and 5 pm every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Besides, it has two other counsellors who will be available for six-seven hours at the campus twice a week.
“This would allow the students to reach out to the expert for accessing clinical support in terms of medication and reviewing their respective progress. Additionally, this would support the mental health counsellors to discuss and reflect on students’ concerns with an integrated approach,” the registrar said.
Paul further said the university was in discussion with EMDR Asia to invite a team of skilled practitioners to conduct EMDR sessions for students of all batches and staff. “Emphasis will be on initiating the process with more urgent cohorts of people directly impacted,” she wrote.
The registrar also said that counsellors were structuring a plan to facilitate regular group sessions or interactive workshops with different themes related to mental health and wellbeing, and also consulting AIIMS to conduct psychological first-aid training for the staff to identify mental health distress and learn ways to respond and report.
“We are setting up a peer support group and training module for equipping student volunteers in psychological first-aid and a referral network,” the mail stated.
According to students ThePrint spoke to, the university conducted a well-being and mental health workshop on 15 October which was held by a team of experts from AIIMs.
“The administration is proactively taking steps to ensure student well-being. There are more workshops and events lined up with mental health experts in the coming days,” said the final year student quoted earlier.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
Also Read: 4 suicides in 7 months at IISc Bengaluru during Covid put spotlight on mental health issues
