{"id":39794,"date":"2025-03-25T21:19:38","date_gmt":"2025-03-25T15:49:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/?p=39794"},"modified":"2025-03-25T21:19:39","modified_gmt":"2025-03-25T15:49:39","slug":"sc-sets-up-task-force-address-student-suicides","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/25-03-2025\/sc-sets-up-task-force-address-student-suicides","title":{"rendered":"SC Sets up Task Force to Address Student Suicides"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Syllabus: GS1-Society\/GS2-Governance<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Context<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The Supreme Court has set up a<strong> national task force to address students\u2019 mental health concerns<\/strong> and prevent suicides in higher educational institutions.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>About<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The Supreme Court noted that student suicides in higher educational institutions, including IITs, have increased, <strong>surpassing the number of farmer suicides due to agrarian distress.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The recurring incidents highlight the <strong>institutional frameworks<\/strong> in addressing student mental health, emphasizing the<strong> need for better mechanisms to prevent suicides.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Task Force Established<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>10-Member Task Force:<\/strong> Formed to investigate causes of student suicides, including ragging, caste-based discrimination, academic pressure, financial stress, and mental health stigma.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Assessment of Current Frameworks:<\/strong> The task force will evaluate the effectiveness of existing laws, policies, and frameworks in higher education and suggest improvements.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Authority for Surprise Inspections: <\/strong>The task force has the authority to conduct surprise inspections at higher education institutions.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Flexible Mandate: <\/strong>The task force can make recommendations beyond its specified mandate if necessary.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Reporting Timeline:<\/strong> The court has ordered the task force to present an interim report within four months and a final report within eight months.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Student\u2019s Suicide in India<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>As per the Report of the National Crime Records Bureau 2022, over 13,000 students having lost their lives by committing suicide in the country.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Surge in Student Suicides:<\/strong> Student suicides in India have risen at an alarming annual rate of 4%, double the national average.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Gender Trends:<\/strong> Between 2021-2022, male suicides decreased by 6%, while female suicides increased by 7%.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>States:<\/strong> Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, and Madhya Pradesh account for one-third of student suicides.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Reasons for the Rise in Student\u2019s Suicide<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Academic Pressure: <\/strong>Intense competition and high expectations in educational institutions, particularly in coaching hubs like Kota.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Mental Health Issues:<\/strong> Increasing rates of depression, anxiety, and stress among students, with inadequate mental health support systems.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Social Stigma: <\/strong>Stigma surrounding mental health, discouraging students from seeking help.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Caste and Gender Discrimination:<\/strong> Discrimination based on caste, gender, and other social factors within academic institutions.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Family and Financial Strain: <\/strong>Pressure from families to perform well academically, often combined with financial difficulties.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Failure and Academic Setbacks: <\/strong>Struggles with failing exams, academic underachievement, and fear of failure leading to despair.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Lack of Support Systems: <\/strong>Insufficient counseling services and mental health infrastructure in educational institutions.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Social Media and Peer Pressure: <\/strong>The impact of social media on self-esteem, comparison with peers, and bullying.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Government Initiatives<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Manodarpan Initiative: <\/strong>The Union Education Ministry launched &#8216;Manodarpan,&#8217; a program providing psychological support to students through a national toll-free helpline and website.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Rajasthan Government Actions: <\/strong>Issued mental health guidelines in 2022 and 2023, enforced by district administrations.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Appointed 90 psychological counselors to support students.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Introduced a toll-free helpline for student assistance.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>10,000 hostel gatekeepers have been trained to identify signs of mental distress among students.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Dinner with DM Initiative in Kota:<\/strong> A program where students in distress can meet district administration officials for support and counselling.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Helpline for Support:<\/strong> Students facing distress or suicidal tendencies can call the helpline at 104 for assistance.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>National Mental Health Policy: <\/strong>Focused on improving mental health infrastructure and awareness in educational institutions.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Way Ahead<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Need for Mental Health Focus:<\/strong> The IC3 (Career Counseling Program) Institute emphasizes the need for a shift in educational focus to prioritize student well-being over competitive pressures.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>NCRB Report: <\/strong>The report advocates for a robust, integrated career and college counseling system within institutions to address mental health challenges and student aspirations.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The report stresses the importance of shifting the focus from academic competition to nurturing students&#8217; core competencies and well-being to prevent further suicides.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Source: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/india\/sc-task-force-student-suicides-surpassed-farmer-suicides-9903608\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>IE<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Supreme Court has set up a national task force to address students\u2019 mental health concerns and prevent suicides in higher educational institutions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39794","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-affairs"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39794","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39794"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39794\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39795,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39794\/revisions\/39795"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39794"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39794"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39794"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}