June 20, 2026
Building the Bridge: How IIT Kharagpur is Transforming Student Wellbeing
IITKGP Foundation
For decades, IIT Kharagpur has produced leaders, innovators, entrepreneurs, and changemakers who have left their mark across the globe. Yet behind every success story lies a journey that often includes stress, setbacks, self-doubt, and moments of personal struggle.
Today, IIT Kharagpur is taking a bold step to ensure that students navigating those challenges receive the support they need—not as an afterthought, but as an integral part of the educational experience.
Under the leadership of Director Prof. Suman Chakraborty, the Institute has launched one of the most comprehensive student wellbeing initiatives in its history. Known as SETU (Support, Empathy, Transformation & Upliftment), the program seeks to create a campus-wide ecosystem that combines professional mental health services, faculty mentorship, peer support, technology-enabled interventions, and academic reforms into a unified framework of care.
The initiative reflects a simple but powerful philosophy: academic excellence and student wellbeing are not competing priorities. Students perform at their best when they feel supported, connected, and empowered to overcome adversity.
Learning from Experience
The reforms follow an extensive review of student wellbeing systems at IIT Kharagpur. An independent committee of experts, including psychiatrists, educators, law enforcement professionals, cognitive scientists, and alumni, examined the Institute's support structures and identified several recurring challenges.
Among the findings were fragmented support systems, delayed identification of students in distress, inadequate coordination between counseling and residential services, and the need for clearer protocols for intervention and follow-up.
Rather than treating these issues as isolated incidents, the Institute chose to undertake a systemic transformation.
Over the past year, IIT Kharagpur has established a dedicated Dean of Student Wellbeing, adopted a comprehensive Mental Health Policy, introduced standardized crisis-response procedures, and committed to periodic independent reviews to ensure accountability and continuous improvement.
Expanding Access to Care
One of the most visible outcomes of this effort has been the rapid expansion of counseling services.
In just one year, the Institute increased the number of counselors available to students from six to twenty-two. Through the SETU Counseling Centre, students now have access to professional counseling, psychiatric services, group interventions, and a growing network of support resources.
The impact has already been significant. Over a six-month period, the SETU Counseling Centre conducted nearly 2,750 counseling appointments for 444 students, while a complementary 24/7 counseling and helpline service recorded almost 3,000 support sessions involving more than 750 students.
Recognizing that students often need support outside regular office hours, IIT Kharagpur has also introduced Wellness Buddies in residence halls and expanded access to round-the-clock counseling services.
A Human Network of Support
One of the most important lessons from the Institute's review was that academic performance alone is often a poor predictor of emotional distress. Many students who struggle never experience a significant drop in grades and may never seek help on their own.
To address this challenge, IIT Kharagpur has introduced two innovative support networks designed to identify concerns early and build stronger personal connections across campus.
The first is MITRA (Mentor Initiative for Transformation, Resilience and Academic Support), which pairs every undergraduate student with a faculty mentor who serves as a trusted guide and "guardian-friend." Faculty mentors conduct regular conversations with students, helping identify academic, emotional, or social concerns before they escalate.
Complementing this effort is SAARTHI (Student-led Academic And Residential Transition Helpers Initiative), a peer-support program that places trained student representatives in every residence hall wing. These student leaders conduct regular check-ins, help first-year students navigate campus life, and serve as an additional layer of support for peers facing challenges.
Together, MITRA and SAARTHI create a campus-wide network of faculty and student mentors dedicated to ensuring that no student struggles in isolation.
Technology with a Human Touch
At the center of the wellbeing ecosystem is SETU itself—a platform that integrates counseling, mentoring, peer support, wellbeing activities, and career guidance into a single framework.
The SETU app enables students to access resources, schedule appointments, conduct anonymous wellbeing check-ins, and connect with support services when needed. The platform also incorporates AI-enabled tools designed to identify early warning signs and encourage students to seek help before problems become crises.
Yet despite its technological sophistication, SETU remains grounded in human relationships. The goal is not to replace personal interaction, but to ensure that every student can find support quickly, confidentially, and without stigma.
Addressing Academic and Career Stress
Student wellbeing is closely tied to academic and career pressures, particularly at an institution as demanding as IIT Kharagpur.
Recognizing this reality, the Institute has begun integrating wellbeing services directly into the Career Development Centre. Counselors are now present during major placement drives, while pre-placement surveys help identify students who may need additional support.
The Institute is also introducing reforms that make academic pathways more flexible without compromising standards. These include supplementary examination opportunities, structured academic recovery mechanisms, enhanced faculty advising, expanded internship opportunities, and improved support systems for postgraduate and doctoral students.
The objective is not to lower expectations, but to ensure that students facing temporary setbacks have meaningful pathways to recover and succeed.
Where Alumni Can Make a Difference
While IIT Kharagpur has built the foundation for a comprehensive wellbeing ecosystem, its leaders acknowledge that the journey is far from complete. Serving a residential community of more than 20,000 students, faculty, and staff requires continued investment in professional counseling resources, hall-level support systems, and mentorship programs. Expanding access remains one of the Institute's greatest challenges.
This is where the global KGP alumni community can play a transformative role.
The Institute is inviting alumni to contribute in several ways: by sharing personal stories of resilience and failure through an Alumni Motivation Series, mentoring students during critical transition periods, supporting hall-based engagement initiatives, and helping fund additional counseling and mental health resources.
For today's students, hearing from alumni who have navigated setbacks, uncertainty, and adversity may be just as valuable as hearing about success.
The message at the heart of SETU is one that every KGPian understands: no meaningful journey is completed alone.
As IIT Kharagpur strengthens the bridge between academic excellence and personal wellbeing, alumni have a unique opportunity to help ensure that future generations of KGPians not only succeed—but thrive.