National task force for addressing mental health of medical students faces hurdles- SC orders immediate govt action

New Delhi: The Supreme Court recently directed the Union Government to provide a suitable physical space, which is accessible in all respects, for the work of the National Task Force (NTF) for mental health.

Earlier this year, the Apex Court had ordered the constitution of the NTF after taking cognisance of a disturbing pattern of student suicides being reported from various educational institutes. Accordingly, the Apex Court had ordered to set up the National Task Force to address the mental health concerns of the students.

During the hearing of the matter last week, the top court bench comprising Justices J.B. Pardiwala and R. Mahadevan took note of the status report filed by the NTF, including the challenges that the Task Force had to face.

Noting that one of the biggest challenges for the NTF was to set up the Secretariat and find a physical space for the work of the NTF, which is accessible in all respects, the top court bench ordered, "We direct the Union to provide a suitable physical space for the work of the NTF which is accessible in all respects."

"The NTF must have a suitable space with adequate area so that they can convene their meetings periodically without any inconvenience. Let this allotment of physical space be done within a period of four weeks from today without fail," the bench further mentioned in the judgment dated 14.07.2025.

Background:

Back in March 2025, the Supreme Court had ordered the constitution of a National Task Force to address the mental health concerns of students, including medical students.

Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that this direction was issued by the Apex Court after two students committed suicide after allegedly facing caste-based discrimination and mental health concerns at IIT Delhi. The families of the deceased students had claimed foul play resulting in the death.

Also Read: NEET Aspirant Suicide in Rajasthan- SC seeks Action Report from State

The Task Force had been constituted by the Apex Court under the chairmanship of Justice S. Ravindra Bhat, former judge of the Supreme Court of India, along with other experts from various domains as members, to discuss and deliberate on issues related to mental health concerns among students, the prevention of suicides in educational institutions, and to recommend preventive measures.

The key areas of focus for the National Task Force were identifying predominant causes leading to student suicides, such as academic pressure, discrimination, financial burdens, and the stigma surrounding mental health, analyzing the effectiveness of existing student welfare and mental health regulations/policies, and proposing reforms to strengthen institutional frameworks and create a supportive academic environment.

As per a PIB release, the Task Force had decided to form three working groups each looking after different tasks, including compiling and reviewing previous reports, examining existing laws and regulations, and developing a methodology for designing questionnaires. The first meeting of the Task Force was virtually held on 28.03.2025.

During the hearing of the matter on 14.07.2025, the Supreme Court bench took into consideration the plea by the Amicus seeking directions for the induction of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs into the National Task Force and allowed the application. Similarly, the Court allowed impleadment of Union of Indiam Ministry of Education, Department of Higher Education as respondent.

The top court bench also took note of the status report filed by the National Task Force on Mental Health of the students and prevention of student suicides in higher education institutes.

It was observed by the Supreme Court bench that after the meeting on 28.03.2025, the task force held three meetings with the ex-officio members present on 12.04.2025, and 26.04.2025, and 24.05.2025. Meanwhile, the Core group of the NTF has been meeting regularly both virtually and in-person to carry forward their work. Recently the meetings were held on 4th and 5th of July, 2025 in New Delhi.

During the course of these sittings and between the meetings, the NTF has completed the following tasks:

(a) devised an overall plan to complete the various tasks involved in the work, (b) the NTF members have undertaken a preliminary literature review, review of the existing laws and policies, and developed questionnaires for the conduct of a set of surveys, targeting all institutions of higher education, students, faculty members, parents and mental health practitioners, (c) the questionnaires were piloted through field visits in four institutions i.e. Jamia Millia lslamia and Ramjas College (Delhi University) in Delhi and the Institute of Science and the Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute in Bengaluru, (d) the questionnaire was reviewed by the Ethics Review Committee of the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS), (e) The NTF has worked with the National Informatics Centre (NIC) to create an interactive website and has uploaded the questionnaires in English and Hindi and the website would be launched in the first week of August 2025, (f) The NTF has also planned various stakeholder meetings to gain further insights into the experiences of persons working in the field, (g) the mechanism of rolling out the Institutional survey has been finalised, (h) In the last meeting of the NTF, the members have identified cities in various parts of the country for field visits, ensuring regional representation and diversity of different kinds of institutions. The NTF has also been guided by the suicide statistics in the selection of cities, and (i) Three Research Assistants have been engaged to assist in the research process.

Apart from this, in the status report, the NTF also underlined the challenges faced by them. "One of the biggest challenges has been the setting up of the Secretariat and finding a physical space for the work of the NTF which is accessible in all respects. The NTF is yet to identify the space," mentioned the NTF, further adding that the creation of a website was also taking longer than expected.

"Even though the Government of India has written to various State Governments to appoint Nodal Officers, response has not been received from all the States. In certain cases, data solicited has not been forthcoming and this requires constant follow up. There are some issues with the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data since the existing NCRB data does not provide unit level data on suicides by students. There are various gaps in the data received from the UGC, AICTE, Dental Council and the National Medical Commission (NMC) which is currently being analysed by the NTF. The NTF has, therefore, filed a separate application before this Hon'ble Court seeking appointment of Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) as an ex-officio member so that the MHA would facilitate access of data to the NTF," stated the Task Force.

Taking note of the same, the top court bench observed, "We must make all possible endeavours to ensure that the difficulties faced by the NTF are taken care of at the earliest."

"We request Mr. K.M. Nataraj and Mr. Brijinder Chahar to immediately look into the difficulties faced by the NTF and speak to the authorities concerned in this regard," it ordered.

Accordingly, the Court directed the Union Government to find a suitable physical space for the NTF which is accessible in all respects within four weeks.

Further, the Court also requested the Ministry of Home Affairs to facilitate access to data to the NTF and asked the Additional Solicitor General, Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi, for the progress in the investigation of the two FIRs relating to the suicide committed by two students who were studying in IIT Delhi.

Similarly, the Court asked for the status of the investigation undertaken by the Police of the State of West Bengal relating to the suicide committed by a student who was studying in IIT Kharagpur. It also sought a report from the Rajasthan Government for the suicide of a NEET aspirant in Kota.

To view the order, click on the link below:

https://medicaldialogues.in/pdf_upload/supreme-court-ntf-295460.pdf

Also Read: Supreme Court Slams Rajasthan Over Rising NEET Aspirant Suicides in Kota