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Replying in the Lok Sabha, the Ministry of Education said suicide data is collected by the National Crime Records Bureau from police-recorded cases and published annually in the Accidental Deaths & Suicides in India (ADSI) report, which carries year-wise, state-wise, gender-wise and age-group-wise details of student suicides.
MANODARPAN, the Ministry of Education's initiative, runs a national toll-free helpline with trained counsellors plus 'Sahyog' live interactive sessions and 'Paricharcha' webinars telecast on PM e-Vidya channels and the NCERT Official YouTube channel.
CBSE has mandated a Counsellor and Wellness Teacher in every affiliated secondary and senior secondary school; 830 counsellors had been engaged on contract in Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas as of February 2026, and Kendriya Vidyalayas have been directed to appoint counsellors.
Under the National Tele Mental Health Programme launched in 2022, 36 States/UTs had set up 53 Tele-MANAS cells as on 6 August 2026, and more than 43,25,000 calls had been handled on the helpline.
More than 1.81 lakh Sub Health Centres and Primary Health Centres have been upgraded to Ayushman Arogya Mandirs, with mental health services added to the Comprehensive Primary Health Care package.
Provide psychological support to students, teachers and families for mental and emotional well-being
Key: An initiative of the Ministry of Education; runs a national toll-free helpline staffed by trained counsellors, plus 'Sahyog' live interactive sessions and 'Paricharcha' webinars telecast on PM e-Vidya channels and carried on the NCERT Official YouTube channel
Improve access to quality mental health counselling and care across the country
Key: Launched in 2022 by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare; Tele-MANAS stands for Tele Mental Health Assistance and Networking Across States, with the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS), Bengaluru as the apex nodal institution; 53 cells in 36 States/UTs and over 43.25 lakh calls handled as on 6 August 2026, now supplemented by a mobile app and video consultation
Deliver mental health services through the public health system
Key: Implemented by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare; provides outpatient services, assessment, counselling and psycho-social interventions, continuing care for severe mental disorders, drugs, outreach and ambulance services at Community Health Centre and Primary Health Centre level
Make suicide prevention a public health priority with time-bound targets
Key: Framed by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and released in November 2022 — India's first such strategy — targeting a 10% reduction in suicide mortality by 2030 through surveillance, suicide support services in district mental health services and mental well-being curricula in educational institutions; circulated by UGC to HEIs in January 2023
Extend student-protection measures beyond school and college campuses to the coaching industry
Key: Issued by the Ministry of Education; mandates counselling facilities, transparent fee structures, prohibition of batch segregation, and safeguards against practices that intensify academic pressure
Institutionalise student mental well-being in higher education institutions
Key: The 2023 UGC guidelines promote physical fitness and sport, create safeguards against academic and peer pressure and behavioural distress; the Ministry's July 2023 framework guideline adds counselling services, early distress identification, suicide prevention SOPs, student support networks, strengthened grievance redressal and periodic institutional review
Move campus mental health support from reactive care to preventive, round-the-clock support
Key: Support, Empathy, Transformation & Upliftment — cited by the Ministry as an institutional model; IIT Madras, IIT Delhi, IIT Guwahati, IIT Gandhinagar and IIT Roorkee have conducted Mental Wellness and Stress Management workshops, and all IITs, IIMs, NITs and IIITs have dedicated mental health or counselling centres
Collects suicide data from police-recorded cases and publishes the annual Accidental Deaths & Suicides in India (ADSI) report with year-wise, state-wise, gender-wise and age-group-wise breakdowns; also publishes Crime in India and Prison Statistics India
The apex nodal institution for the National Tele Mental Health Programme and Tele-MANAS
Circulated the National Suicide Prevention Strategy to HEIs in January 2023, issued student well-being guidelines on 13 April 2023, and enforces the anti-ragging regulations of 2009 including a 24x7 national helpline
Runs the Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas, with a provision for two counsellors per JNV (one male, one female) on contract; 830 engaged as of February 2026
Has mandated appointment of a Counsellor and Wellness Teacher in every affiliated secondary and senior secondary school through its Affiliation Bye-laws
Guarantees the right to access mental healthcare, shifts the legal approach from custodial care to rights-based care, and effectively decriminalises attempted suicide by presuming severe stress in a person who attempts it
The instrument under which UGC acts against ragging; provides for a 24x7 National Anti-Ragging Helpline, anti-ragging workshops and seminars, mandatory disclosure of consequences in institutional prospectuses, annual online undertakings by students and parents, and display of anti-ragging posters
The instrument through which CBSE has made the appointment of a Counsellor and Wellness Teacher mandatory in affiliated secondary and senior secondary schools
Public health and sanitation, hospitals and dispensaries fall under the State List, which is why the National Mental Health Programme and Tele-MANAS operate through State-run cells and facilities rather than a directly administered central service
Sub Health Centres and PHCs upgraded to Ayushman Arogya Mandirs are the Health and Wellness Centre arm of Ayushman Bharat; adding mental health to the Comprehensive Primary Health Care package is how the strategy reaches beyond specialist hospitals
The January 2024 guidelines mark the first attempt to bring the coaching industry — long outside education regulation — into a student-protection framework, and connect this topic to the debate over commercialisation of education
SDG target 3.4 includes promoting mental health and well-being; India's National Suicide Prevention Strategy target of a 10% reduction in suicide mortality by 2030 is aligned to that timeline
Because ADSI figures come from police-recorded cases, under-reporting is a known limitation — an important qualifier whenever suicide statistics are used in a Mains answer
GS Paper 2 > Governance > Issues Relating to Development and Management of Social Sector Services (Health, Education)
General Awareness > Government Initiatives
General Awareness > Schemes and Reports
Mental health programmes and NCRB reports are recurring Prelims and Mains GS2 material
Accidental Deaths & Suicides in India — the NCRB's annual report on unnatural deaths and suicides, based on police-recorded cases
The Ministry of Education's initiative providing psychological support to students, teachers and families through a national toll-free helpline, 'Sahyog' sessions and 'Paricharcha' webinars
Tele Mental Health Assistance and Networking Across States — the helpline network of the National Tele Mental Health Programme launched in 2022, with NIMHANS Bengaluru as nodal institution
The renamed Health and Wellness Centre — an upgraded Sub Health Centre or Primary Health Centre delivering Comprehensive Primary Health Care, now including mental health services