Supreme Court has set up a national task force to address students’ mental health concerns | Current Affairs | Vision IAS
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Supreme Court has set up a national task force to address students’ mental health concerns

Posted 25 Mar 2025

2 min read

The task force, under former SC judge Justice S Ravindra Bhat, will identify the predominant causes that lead to students’ suicides and recommend measures to create more inclusive and supportive academic environment.

Students’ Suicides in India

  • According to the NCRB 2022 report, student suicides accounted for 7.6% of total suicides in India in 2022.
    • Over the last decade (2012-22), the number of student suicides increased from 6,654 to 13,044.
  • Maharashtra reported the highest number of student suicides followed by Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Odisha. 

Cause of Students suicides

  • Academic reasons: Academic dissatisfaction, academic stress and academic failure.
  • Institutional factors: Bullying, ragging, and discrimination for holding political view or religious beliefs.
  • Socio-economic reasons: Caste-based discrimination, gender-based discrimination, sexual harassment, ethnicity-based discrimination etc. 
  • Others: Financial crisis and online gaming.

Initiatives taken to curb students’ suicide in India

  • MANODARPAN: An initiative by the Ministry of Education to provide Psychosocial Support for Mental Health & Well Being of Students.
  • National Suicide Prevention Strategy (NSPS): Launched by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) in 2022, with the goal of reducing suicide mortality by 10% by 2030.
  • National Tele Mental Health Programme (NTMHP): Aims to improve access to mental health care through a 24/7 toll-free helpline.
  • Draft UMMEED (Understand, Motivate, Manage, Empathise, Empower and Develop): Prevention of Suicide - Guidelines for Schools, 2023.
  • Tags :
  • Mental Health
  • Suicide
  • Student's Suicide
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