Campus Mothers to supplement professionals, not replace them: IIT Kharagpur Director

Director of the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur (IIT KGP), Dr. Suman Chakraborty, said on Monday (July 14, 2025) that the ‘campus mothers’ initiative is part of a new five-pronged programme geared towards student well-being, and “not a standalone initiative at the expense of professional counselling.” 

“We cannot look at the ‘campus mothers’ initiative in isolation. It is not designed to replace trained psychologists, but to supplement them with a motherly touch. We aim to make student welfare more holistic and not centred only on professional counselling,” he said. 

On Monday, a day before the institute’s 71st convocation, Dr. Chakraborty announced “SETU” (Support, Empathy, Transformation, and Upliftment), a new, five-pronged mental health framework. 

It expands student welfare from core psychological counselling to multiple granular, tech enabled, and scientifically designed intervention programmes spanning hostels, gymkhana, academic units etc, he said. 

“In addition to the “campus mothers” initiative, SETU includes an upgraded counselling centre, an AI-driven student welfare app, campus wellness groups, hostel welfare units, and student engagement projects. The framework comprises these five pillars working together”, Dr. Chakraborty said. 

According to the Director, the programme was designed by professional psychological experts and technology experts, both from the institute and outside.  

These developments assume significance in light of multiple suicides and unnatural deaths on the IIT KGP campus in the last few years, with three students passing away this year itself. Addressing past incidents, the Director, on Monday, emphasised on “prevention of unfortunate incidents over being procedurally sound afterwards.”

“Earlier, student well-being was mainly centred around the counselling centre. Whoever faced any trouble would be directed there. But with a campus that has 20,000 students, the counselling centre alone should not be tasked with their welfare. We must assume that at some point in time, each of those students would require emotional support and that support should be available at all levels,” Dr. Chakraborty said. 

Currently, the counselling centre has roughly 15 on-campus counsellors. Additionally, a team of external experts will be visiting the institute on July 21 to consult on student welfare issues, he added. 

Notably, as part of SETU, the on-campus counselling centre is being “upgraded” to include 24/7 online counselling, group sessions, stress management workshops, and hostel-level outreach programmes along with one-on-one therapy and psychiatric consultations. The upgrade is in its “advanced stages”. 

The Director also highlighted the involvement of peers, especially hostel mates, in early identification and intervention as part of the new framework. 

“Hostel peers can play an important role in vigilance, and in identifying and flagging sudden and complex behavioural changes. Students can normalise openness and provide accessible support to each other in ways no top-down model can replicate. In fact, we will have welfare units granulated up to each wing of every hall of residence,” Dr. Chakraborty said.

The new SETU framework, which is being developed on “war footing”, is expected to be launched with the arrival of the new batch of students on July 25. The Director said he would give an elaborate presentation on the same to incoming students and guardians. 

“Not a gendered programme”

Dr Chakraborty also addressed allegations and grievances that have cropped up online and in the mental health fraternity against the “campus mothers” programme. 

“This is not a gendered programme. Rather this is a gender balancing programme, to engage more women in student welfare initiatives. Ninety percent of the committees and programmes are already dominated by men,” he said. 

He also added that the volunteers will be trained by professional psychologists to ensure “ethical, respectful interactions.”

The “campus mothers” initiative, newly introduced by IIT KGP and expected to launch on July 25, seeks to involve elder female volunteers from among campus residents to offer informal emotional support to students and add a “motherly touch” to the student welfare framework. 

However, it was heavily criticised by mental health professionals for taking a “gendered” approach. Questions were also raised on whether volunteers would practise non-judgment, confidentiality, and other professional counselling ethics. 

Campus security plan in the works

The IIT KGP Director on Monday also announced that a similar, multi-pronged campus security plan is in the works. 

“Campus security not just includes safety of women, but also preventing instances of physical attacks, substance abuse, etc. However, tightening security does not mean harassing people unnecessarily. We are planning to develop similar pillars to bolster campus security, and like in SETU, tech will be used for improved data management. We will prepare for the best, but we cannot guarantee outcomes,” Dr Chakraborty said. 

This development follows multiple instances of crime against women in educational institutions in the State, namely RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, South Calcutta Law College, and most recently, the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta.