Thirty ad hoc counselling roles are on offer through IIT Bombay's Student Wellness Centre, which has opened the application process to prospective candidates. Of those positions, 26 are designated for student counsellors and a further four for those at senior level. Those chosen for the positions are able to commence their duties on 15 October.

A push to expand mental health provision at the institute has taken on added weight in the wake of Sahil Wakode's death — the second-year BTech student whose passing has prompted a review of available pastoral resources. His death on 18 September — recorded by authorities as a suicide — followed by only a few hours an incident in which he had been found using his phone during a mid-semester examination.

Following his passing, gatherings of students at IIT Bombay grew into widespread demonstrations across the campus. Protesters at the institute called for stronger mental health provision, tying their demands to a string of student deaths recorded over the preceding twelve months.

A written document handed to Director Professor Shireesh Kedare set out several requests, among them a call for broader mental health provision across the campus. Some students raised concerns that the SWC's counselling workforce was too small to adequately serve a student body of nearly 14,000 enrolled across the institute's range of programmes and departments.

Following the protests, a set of student-focused policy changes was put forward by the administration. A newly created associate dean position, sitting beneath the Dean of Student Affairs, has been filled — with responsibility for student welfare forming the core of that role. Plans to place designated wellness representatives inside student residences formed part of a wider restructuring of the institute's mental health and support services, as outlined to students during the briefing.

Providing mental health support to students at IIT Bombay is among the functions the SWC serves. Counselling forms the core of what it offers, with the emotional, psychological, and mental health needs of students across undergraduate, postgraduate, and doctoral programmes guiding its work.

Four senior counsellor vacancies outlined in the posted recruitment notice carry a minimum threshold of ten years' post-qualifying professional experience. Those seeking to fill student counsellor roles are expected to bring a minimum of two years of relevant professional background to the position. Applicants are expected to hold a postgraduate degree — either an MA or an MSc — in Psychology, with a focus on clinical counselling or social psychology, and to have achieved a minimum of 55 per cent marks or a comparable grade.

Applications close on 17 October, with interview sessions running across the period from 12 to 18 October. Thirty counsellor positions are to be filled with attention to both gender and linguistic representation, so that students arriving from varied social and language backgrounds have a viable path to support services.

Candidates who have worked with teenagers and young adults, navigated the demands of boarding or residential academic settings, and handled urgent support situations will find that background viewed favourably. Knowledge of regional Indian languages, beyond fluency in English and Hindi, is treated as an added advantage for candidates.