India, June 11 -- When the Supreme Court appointed a National Task Force (NTF) to look into students' mental health concerns and prevent suicides, it termed student suicides in the country an "epidemic". The remark perhaps reflected alarm over the 65% rise in student suicides between 2013 and 2023. The National Crime Research Bureau pegs the rise in student suicides between 2014 and 2024 at 80%. The NTF's interim report reveals a much more sordid picture: 65% higher-education institutions have no access to mental health service providers, 73% lack full-time mental health professional, and fewer than 4% have a suicide-risk assessment. Almost half of the institutions had not conducted a faculty sensitisation workshop in the 18 months the panel took to finalise its interim report. But attitudes, not numbers, are the most alarming aspect of the report. The larger malaise - that of apathy to students - triggered not only suicide, but also suicidal attempts, ideation, passive death wish, self-harm, and mental health struggles. Many students and faculty members who interacted with the panel appeared either oblivious or unmoved. The NTF flagged weak redressal mechanisms, academic pressure, and severe gaps in mental health care support. It noted caste, class, ethnicity, and language as fault lines that exacerbated vulnerabilities of students from marginalised sections. The contours of a remedial plan will need to include institutions, parents, and the government. Enforcing regulatory and court mandates on mental health and counselling support, anti-bullying measures, active monitoring for at-risk individuals, along with focused decompression of the academic environment and lowering of financial risks that make education a high-stakes pursuit is needed. The government must acknowledge suicides as only the symptom of a larger disease of discrimination on campuses, and act accordingly....