New Delhi, 30 June (H.S.): The National Task Force (NTF), constituted by the Supreme Court to address student mental health and prevent the rising incidence of suicides in Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs), has visited 30 higher educational institutions across 10 states since May 2025. The task force has also conducted 25 stakeholder consultations covering issues such as caste-based discrimination, gender inequality, challenges faced by students with disabilities, concerns of Scheduled Tribe (ST) and Other Backward Class (OBC) students, mental health, and suicide prevention.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, the Ministry of Education said the institutional visits and consultations are aimed at understanding the ground realities across different regions and institutions in order to formulate an inclusive and multidisciplinary policy framework for student mental health.

According to the Ministry, the interim report and findings so far have identified several serious challenges. It noted that student suicides in higher educational institutions are driven not only by mental health issues but also by academic pressure, caste and gender discrimination, financial hardship, social isolation, family expectations, inadequate institutional support, and limited access to mental health services.

The report stated that most higher educational institutions in the country do not have full-time mental health professionals. More than 70 percent of the institutions surveyed lacked full-time mental health service providers. Fewer than 20 percent had formal collaboration with mental health specialists, while less than four percent had established protocols for responding to suicide risks. Around 45 percent of the institutions had not conducted sensitisation programmes for faculty members during the past 18 months.

According to the report, a survey involving more than 243,000 students found that nearly 34 percent reported feeling isolated on campus, while 15 percent said they had experienced prolonged periods of severe stress, depression, or anxiety during the previous six months. Additionally, nine percent of the respondents acknowledged having frequent suicidal thoughts during the past year.

During institutional visits, students highlighted several major concerns, including rigid attendance rules, excessive academic pressure, shortage of faculty, delays in scholarship disbursement, ineffective grievance redressal mechanisms, caste- and gender-based discrimination, poor hostel conditions, and inadequate counselling services. The report noted that grievance redressal systems in many institutions have become largely procedural formalities, resulting in declining student confidence in institutional administration.

The interim report also made several recommendations. These include developing a more reliable and coordinated national data system on student suicides, ensuring effective full-time mental health support services in every higher educational institution, appointing trained counsellors, implementing Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for suicide risk management, and sensitising teaching and non-teaching staff to mental health issues.

The report further recommended strengthening grievance redressal mechanisms by making them more effective, transparent, and student-friendly, enhancing institutional accountability to prevent discrimination, and providing students with safer platforms to raise their concerns. It also emphasised improving student-faculty interaction, reinforcing mentorship systems, promoting diversity and inclusion, and integrating mental health services into the institutional culture of higher educational institutions.

Notably, the Supreme Court constituted the National Task Force on March 24, 2025, under the chairmanship of retired Justice S. Ravindra Bhat in view of the increasing number of student suicides in higher educational institutions. The task force has been entrusted with identifying the principal causes of student suicides, reviewing existing legal and institutional mechanisms, and recommending reforms to ensure effective prevention and institutional accountability. In its order dated May 27, 2026, the Supreme Court granted the task force time until October 31, 2026, to submit its final report.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar