Mental health as a social and structural crisis in HEIs: Kautilya Society NLUO, Vidhi to host panel discussion

The Kautilya Society at National Law University Odisha (NLUO), in collaboration with the Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy, is organising a Panel Discussion titled, “Beyond Individual Distress: Re-evaluating Mental Health as a Social and Structural Crisis in Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs)” on September 6, 2026 via Google Meet..For decades, institutional responses to student distress in higher education have defaulted to a biomedical or clinical framework, treating mental health challenges primarily as individual psychological vulnerabilities. However, the alarming rise in student distress across Higher Educational Institutions indicates that individual-centric models are insufficient. .Taking inspiration from the Report submitted by Vidhi in collaboration with Kautilya Society fellows to the National Task Force on Mental Health of Student and Prevention of Suicides in HEIs, this discussion aims to shift the focus from viewing student mental health as an isolated medical issue to diagnosing it as a structural, social, and institutional crisis..About the Panellists.Dr Debadutta MohapatraDr Debadutta Mohapatra is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at AIIMS Bhubaneswar, specializing in child and adolescent psychiatry, psychopharmacology, consultation-liaison psychiatry, and rehabilitation psychiatry. An accomplished researcher and clinician, she has authored 47 PubMed-indexed publications and 3 book chapters, led 15 ICMR-funded research projects alongside 8 other funded studies, and delivered over 50 presentations across national and international platforms. .Her contributions to the field have earned her numerous accolades, including the Best Researcher Award at AIIMS Bhubaneswar for three consecutive years (2023–2025), the Late Prof Dr GC Boral Memorial Award, and a fellowship in brain stimulation at NIMHANS, Bangalore. In addition to her clinical and research work, Dr Mohapatra holds several leadership roles, serving as the Honorary Secretary of the Indian Psychiatric Society (IPS) Odisha State Branch, Convenor of the IPS Child Psychiatry Specialty Section, and Co-Chairperson of the IPS Publication Subcommittee..Shireen YachuShireen Yachu is a Senior Resident Fellow, Health at the Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy. Her work focuses on end-of-life care, advance care planning, suicide prevention & mental health, and gender rights. Prior to joining Vidhi, she worked at the Office of Dr Virander Singh Chauhan on issues surrounding gender rights, health policy, and education. She holds a Master’s degree in Sociology from the Delhi School of Economics. Her areas of interest include public health, gender rights, education, and environment..Pratyay PanigrahiPratyay is a Research Fellow in the Founders’ Office at the Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy, Delhi. He holds an LLM from the London School of Economics and a BA LLB (Hons) from the West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences, Kolkata. He is interested in public law, with a special emphasis on civil rights, institutional accountability and comparative constitutional law. Prior to joining Vidhi, he has worked as a full-time Research Assistant to a Senior Advocate, as an Occasional Research Assistant at the London School of Economics and as a Regulatory Analyst at RegGenome..Somya S MohapatraSomya S Mohapatra is a Mental Health Expert with 15 years of experience in Psychotherapy, Counselling and Training in the field of Mental Health – Awareness, Prevention and Treatment. At present she works as the Chief Psychologist at Manam Foundation. .She has been actively involved in Training sessions with the Government of Odisha (Tele-Manas/Odisha Correctional Institutions/Schools, Colleges), the Public Health Foundation of India, the UNICEF and other non-profit organization and Corporates for Mental Health Awareness, Adolescents’ Mental Health Care and Suicide Prevention. .She is a MSW Graduate from TISS Mumbai and has a Psychological Counselling PG certification from CCC, Vellore. She is a Life Member of Association of Psychological Counselling and has a paper publication there as well. She excels in Interactive Learning Sessions with persons of varied age groups, cultures and interdisciplinary studies and exposure. Apart from Therapy Counselling she loves writing articles, cooking, dancing and travelling to nature sites..Event Schedule and EligibilityDate: September 6, 2026 (Sunday)Time: 6 PM to 8 PMPlatform: Google MeetJoining Link: https://meet.google.com/sbk-gofp-qkyEligibility: Open to all students, faculty, and external participants..CONTACT INFORMATIONFor any queries you can mail the Society at ksociety@nluo.ac.in Further, you can contact the persons below:Convenor: Aryan Chowdhury +91 8318262740Co-Convenor: Nidhi Rai +91 9560392741