New Delhi: Even as students in IIT Bombay continue to protest after a 20-year-old Dalit student allegedly died by suicide, the interim report of the National Task Force (NTF) on ‘Mental Health of Students and Prevention of Suicides in Higher Educational Institutes’, set up by the Supreme Court in March 2025, raises serious concerns over treatment of students from marginalised communities in higher education institutions, said a report by Anubhuti Vishnoi in Economic Times.In its 211-page interim report, the NTF, citing data from parliamentary questions, found that more than 13,600 students from disadvantaged communities dropped out of premier institutions between 2018 and 2023.The NTF’s interim report revealed that between 2018 and 2023, 4,596 Other Backward Classes (OBC), 2,424 Scheduled Caste (SC) and 2,622 Scheduled Tribe (ST) students dropped out of central universities; 2,066 OBC, 1,068 SC and 408 ST students from IITs; and 163 OBC, 188 SC and 91 ST students from IIMs.The Supreme Court had set up the NTF while hearing a case concerning two student suicides at IIT Delhi in 2023, wherein police had refused to register an FIR.The report also noted that 56% of faculty in higher education belong to socially advantaged groups, with this disparity being most prominent in elite institutions.Institutes of National Importance (INIs), like the IITs and NITs, have only 7.57% SC faculty and 1.91% ST faculty, while 67.71% come from “privileged” backgrounds, the NTF has said, reported Economic Times.The NTF also cited reports about how the dominant “campus culture”, often requires students to pass the so-called “vibe check”, which students from marginalised sections mostly fail, leading to exclusion and isolation.Earlier, facing severe backlash and protests over the death of 20-year-old Dalit student Sahil Wakode, the IIT Bombay on Monday (September 21) had apologised for its earlier statements wherein it had claimed that the Sahil was found using his mobile phone during his mid-term exam, and that no disciplinary action was initiated against him.Students of the institute and his parents have accused IIT Bombay of casteism and of humiliating Sahil, which they say resulted in his death.