Chandigarh, Feb. 5 -- Three weeks after a 19-year-old student from UP died by suicide on the PEC campus, Panjab University (PU) continues to operate without a full-time counsellor for its nearly 16,000 students. The university currently relies on two part-time counsellors, even as recent UGC guidelines mandate stronger and more accessible mental health support in higher education institutions, even as University Grants Commission (UGC) has proposed rules making institutional mental health support compulsory across campuses. The draft guidelines mandate higher education institutions to appoint at least one qualified mental health professional for every 100 students and run a 24x7 helpline for student grievances and psychosocial concerns, linked to national mental health helplines. A key provision states that any institution with 100 or more students must have at least one qualified clinical psychologist, psychologist or mental health professional. PU had been functioning with only one part-time counsellor for over a year. After repeated concerns raised by student bodies and authorities, a second part-time counsellor was appointed in January 2026. Even though the university has undertaken awareness initiatives, such as collaborations with local NGOs for mental health campaigns and the introduction of mentor-mentee programmes, institutional capacity has not kept pace with the growing need for mental health support. Vice chancellor Renu Vig stated that the university currently does not have sanctioned posts for a full time counsellor. "Our goal right now is to conduct a proper need analysis by assessing how many students are seeking counselling each month. Based on that, we will decide the way forward," she said. Dean student welfare (DSW) Amit Chauhan said that no student concerns have been ignored and that individual counselling sessions are being held across hostels. These are held from 2 pm to 6 pm-the same as the working hours of the part-time counsellors. Pulkita Wadhwa, one of the part time counsellors, acknowledged the increasing demand for mental health services on campus. "The number of cases is rising, and appointing a full time counsellor is the need of the hour." Mental health activist Aditya Vikram Rametra stressed the need for a long term institutional strategy. He suggested that PU collaborate with professionals, including psychologists from PGI, and allocate a dedicated budget for a structured mental health committee. "For a university the size of PU, at least one counsellor for every 1,000 students is necessary," he said. According to available data from PU's counselling sessions, most cases involve generational trauma, loneliness, relationship issues, career pressure, clinical anxiety and depression. Following the incident, PEC conducted counselling sessions across all its hostels and tightened security checks on parcels received by students. Dean Student Affairs DR Prajapati said that while continuous monitoring of deliveries would be challenging, the institute would make every effort to maintain strict vigilance, especially since the pesticide was allegedly ordered online....