MUMBAI, Nov. 22 -- In a major push to strengthen mental health support on campus, the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay has made wellbeing workshops compulsory for all first-year undergraduate students. Between August and October, the institute conducted 120 Pass/No Pass (PNP) sessions to ensure full participation. "We introduced PNP workshops for freshers considering the growing need for mental health support and overall wellbeing. The student response has been encouraging," IIT-B director professor Shireesh Kedare said on Friday. He was speaking ahead of the '2nd National Wellbeing Conclave 2025', which begins Saturday and will be inaugurated by Union Higher Education Secretary Vineet Joshi. The two-day conclave, organised by the Union Education Ministry's higher education department, will see participation from 140 faculty members and 130 students representing 80 higher education institutions, including 20 IITs, six IIITs and eight IIMs. The programme will feature two symposia, three panel discussions, student workshops and faculty sessions aimed at accelerating wellbeing-driven institutional reforms. Professor Deepak Marla, vice-chairperson of the Student Wellness Centre (SWC), said IIT-B's "Flourishing Hub", launched in March 2025 with support from the alumni batch of 1998, has for the first time integrated structured wellbeing education into the first-year curriculum. According to him, the wellness course has already reached 1,397 first-year students through 122 workshops, while 895 senior students have been trained as mentors. "Third- and fourth-year undergraduates act as mentors. We train them to handle student concerns, and we also train faculty. One faculty mentor is assigned to every 14 students," Marla said. IIT-B has also introduced new teaching-learning methods to ease the transition for first-year students. "We have moved from traditional teaching styles to modern, flexible formats," Kedare said. Around 60 courses now run under the new pedagogy using portable, reconfigurable classroom furniture....