Why is mental tension increasing in the campus? Supreme Court’s task force is collecting evidence, know what will be the benefit to the students

The National Task Force (NTF) formed by the Supreme Court has intensified its efforts to improve the mental health of students and to prevent the increasing incidents of suicide in higher educational institutions of the country. According to government data, the National Task Force has visited 30 colleges and universities in 10 states since May 2025. Apart from this, 25 rounds of meetings and discussions were held with different experts, students and organizations.

The National Task Force (NTF) has visited central universities, private universities, elite institutions (like IITs), medical colleges, law schools and nursing colleges. During this, the team interacted with students, faculty, counselors and wardens to know the ground reality regarding mental stress, discrimination on the basis of caste or gender, grievance redressal system and infrastructure of the campus. During the interactions, the team found that in many institutions, mental health cells existed only on paper and were neither student-friendly nor transparent.

Task force focuses on these issues

From January 2026 onwards, the task force specifically discussed the issues with students and teachers with disabilities, caste discrimination in higher education, women’s mental health and suicide, students from ST and OBC communities, the issue of decriminalization of suicide, gender aspects in student suicide, mental health NGOs and law students. Meanwhile, the problems of many students came to light. On which work is being done.

Why was the task force formed?

Let us tell you that the Supreme Court had constituted this task force on 24 March 2025. Its purpose is to identify the causes of student suicide, review existing laws and policies, and suggest reforms that can make the campus environment more safe, inclusive and supportive. The Supreme Court has given time to the task force to submit its final report by 31 October 2026. Former Chief Statistician Prof. for scientific analysis of the survey. TCA Ananth has also been appointed as technical advisor.