SC-constituted mental health task force launches outreach website to tackle student suicides
Supreme Court of India
to address the alarming rise in student suicides in higher education institutions, launched its official website — ntf.education.gov.in — on Friday.
The website will serve as a key platform to gather data, conduct multilingual surveys, analyse systemic issues, and engage with stakeholders including students, parents, teachers, mental health professionals and the public.
The 18-member task force, chaired by former Supreme Court judge Justice (Retd) S Ravindra Bhat, was set up following a March 2025 apex court directive that acknowledged with 'deep concern' the growing number of suicides across universities, colleges and even institutions of national importance.
The Court had tasked the body with identifying root causes such as discrimination, ragging, academic stress, mental health stigma, and financial pressures, and recommending systemic reforms to prevent such tragedies.
At the website launch event, Justice Bhat said: 'The Supreme Court recognised the urgency of addressing student suicides, and our responsibility is to reach the root of each factor pushing students to such extremes.
The surveys now live on the website are a crucial step in gathering real voices from institutions across India.' He added that the task force has already begun institutional visits in both metropolitan and smaller cities, and has been analysing previous studies and reports.
The portal hosts questionnaires in English and Hindi, enables higher education institutions to upload data on suicides, support mechanisms, and grievance redressal systems, and provides helpline resources.
Secretary of the department of higher education, Vineet Joshi, said that the task force has been actively consulting stakeholders over the past few months and has now accelerated efforts through targeted feedback collection.
'This task force, with the higher education department as the nodal agency, is committed to ensuring that no student life is lost due to preventable causes. India has over 60,000 higher education institutions with 4.46 crore enrolled students and 16 lakh faculty members.
The scale demands robust mental health systems and safe learning environments,' Joshi said.
The task force's first meeting was held on March 29. It is expected to submit its interim report by the end of September and the final report by year-end. The team has also consulted mental health experts and reviewed existing policies to assess the effectiveness of current welfare frameworks and suggest institutional reforms aimed at creating supportive academic ecosystems.
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