Making Mental Health Mandatory: What the New UGC Guidelines Mean for Students
"You don’t have to control your thoughts. You just have to stop letting them control you." – Dan Millman
In a country where exceptional academic merit is often viewed as a badge of honour and emotional vulnerability is buried as an undesirable trait, the recent directive from the University Grants Commission (UGC) is both a revelation and a revolution. The UGC issued new guidelines, dated July 16, 2024, clearly establishing systems for mental health support to be in place for all higher education institutions in India. This is the first time that mental well-being will be acknowledged to be part of student life. It will no longer be something optional or tucked away in dusty corners of campus. This is not a mere policy direction. This is a change in culture.
From "It's All in your Head" to "We are listening" For too long, mental health has lived in the shadows of academia. Our marksheets may have captured and published our achievements but they have silenced the hidden battles of attending a university: the anxiety before an exam, being alone in a hostel room and feeling like an imposter. In their 2023 report, the Indian Journal of Psychiatry stated that almost 1 in 7 students in India report being diagnosed with anxiety or depression-related disorder. While many students would greatly benefit from talking with a professional, they are hindered by stigma, cost and access. The new UGC guidelines seek to break this cycle of neglect.
All universities must now recruit trained student counsellors, host sensitization workshops and forge a culture of emotional wellbeing. The guidelines also spot-light confidentiality, anti-discriminatory and safe access to services. Thus, marking a shift away from tokenistic helplines to real care.
Imagine walking into your college library- not just to study, but to breathe. A room where emotional safety matters as much as academic deadlines. That’s what the UGC wants every institution to cultivate: spaces that are quiet not with silence but with understanding. No longer should a student battling burnout be told to “just take rest.” Instead, they deserve a structured response: therapeutic, professional and affirming.
Mental health is more than about being "happy." It's about ‘ I believe in you ‘ when you're struggling to make sense of your own mind. The guidelines don't anticipate miracles in a day. They simply demand acknowledgement. An acknowledgment that just because wounds are invisible doesn’t mean they don’t ache.
For students, this change translates into more than policy. It becomes permission: to regroup, ask for help and be human in an ever-robotic system. Workshops will include modules on emotional resilience, managing academic workloads, spotting burnout and digitalized fatigue as students. This is not an underutilization, it is an integration. Mental health is as important as attendance.
Additionally, there will be an institutional emphasis on peer led groups wherein sharing lived experiences become bastions of strength rather than shame. When it is normalized to experience vulnerability, healing is systemic and collective. A call for help will no longer be a hollow cry, it will be received openly and with care.
But the real question is: Will we show up? Guidelines are a beginning, not a solution. While the UGC lays the blueprint, implementation remains the test. Colleges must not reduce these mandates to checklists. Mental health isn’t a box to be ticked, it’s a life to be valued. Real change will unfold not in the halls of administration but in conversations between teachers and students, in how attendance policies consider psychological crises, in whether a panic attack is treated with as much urgency as a fever.
The real victory of these guidelines is not infrastructure, it is dignity. Dignity for the student who’s been hiding their therapy sessions, the one who can’t concentrate due to anxiety or the one who failed a semester not out of laziness but depression. Mental health must not be a last resort; it must be a first step. Let this not be just another reform. Let this be the beginning of a new academic culture where our universities don’t just produce scholars but nurture souls.
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