What the NMC Task Force Recommended for Medical Students

The NMC task force on medical student wellbeing made 44 recommendations that apply across every medical college in India, plus five more for students at higher risk. They cover duty hours capped at 74 a week, at least two counsellors for every 500 students, a ten-day family vacation each year, and a Mental Health and Wellbeing Committee chaired by the Dean in every college.

This piece stays on the institutional side of the report: what colleges are being asked to change. If you or someone you know needs support now, Tele MANAS is the government's free 24-hour helpline on 14416, and the number is at the end of this page as well.

What is the NMC task force?

The National Task Force on Mental Health and Well-being of Medical Students was constituted by the Anti-Ragging Cell of the National Medical Commission (NMC). It was chaired by Dr. Suresh Bada Math, Professor of Psychiatry at NIMHANS, Bangalore, with 13 named members, a Member Secretary from the Post Graduate Medical Education Board and one co-opted member.

Its report is dated June 2024 and was published on the NMC website on 14 August 2024. It runs to 153 pages. You can read the report of the National Task Force on Mental Health and Well-being of Medical Students on the NMC site.

Duty hours: the clearest number in the report

Recommendation 3.1.9 is the one with a figure attached, and it is the recommendation most worth knowing, because the Post-Graduate Medical Education Regulations, 2023 contain no numerical limit at all. The task force recommends, in its own words, "based on feasibility, resources, and relevance, that residents work no more than 74 hours per week, with no more than 24 hours at a stretch. This includes one day off per week, a 24-hour duty, and 10-hour shifts for the remaining five days. Ensuring 7-8 hours of daily sleep for medical students is crucial for their mental and physical health."

The same recommendation says duty hours should be planned collaboratively by heads of department, faculty, senior residents and residents, rather than set from above.

Set against a standard six-day week, 74 hours works out at a little over 12 hours a day. A recommendation is not a regulation. It carries no legal force until NMC turns it into one. What it does give a resident is a published national standard to point at, issued by NMC's own task force.

Counselling services every college is asked to provide

Recommendation 3.1.5 sets a staffing ratio rather than a vague duty. It asks colleges to appoint at least two counsellors for every 500 students, reporting directly to the Dean, and says confidential and accessible counselling services must be widely promoted. It also advises implementing a 24-hour support system, and names the Tele MANAS initiative of the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare as the example.

Recommendation 3.1.22 adds a Gatekeeper Training Program, described as a way to "establish a proactive network for identifying at-risk individuals and connecting them with professional help". The idea is that the people who notice first are usually peers and junior faculty, not psychiatrists.

Vacations, leave and time away

Recommendation 3.1.21, headed Family Vacation, asks that medical colleges "consider granting a ten-day vacation at least once a year to both undergraduate and postgraduate medical students on a rotational basis. This vacation would allow students to meet their family members and foster family bonding."

Two things are notable. It covers undergraduates and postgraduates together, and it is framed around family contact rather than rest alone. Alongside it, recommendation 3.1.9 states that leave requests should be judiciously considered and not unreasonably declined.

Faculty, mentorship and who a student can talk to

Several recommendations deal with the relationship between students and teachers, which the report treats as a structural issue rather than a matter of individual goodwill.

• Mentor-mentee programmes (3.1.16). Run as per NMC regulations, with regular meetings, training for mentors and support for mentees.

• Feedback in both directions (3.1.13). Regular feedback from faculty and students, with workload, hierarchy and mistreatment addressed explicitly.

• Support for teachers too (3.1.18). Clear protocols for handling student complaints, including false complaints, so that faculty engage rather than withdraw.

• Enough senior residents (3.1.24). Colleges should hire more senior residents based on workload and patient care demands, which is the structural fix for long duty hours. What those residents are paid varies widely by state, as our guide to the MBBS intern stipend, state by state shows for the stage just before.

• The ghost faculty problem (3.1.34). Better verification, regular inspections and penalties, since a department short of real teachers is a department where residents absorb the work.

Assessment and examinations

The report's recommendations here are built around fairness and stress rather than standards.

• Evaluation methods (3.1.12). A fair and unbiased evaluation system, with a mix of grading systems to reduce stress.

• No fees for repeating a semester (3.1.17). Abolishing repetition fees, plus transparent grading and an independent appeals process.

• Supplementary exams (3.1.32). Introducing them to reduce academic pressure and give a fairer second chance.

• Results by roll number (3.1.33). Announcing results using roll numbers rather than names, to protect privacy and reduce public humiliation.

That last one is small and specific, and it is the kind of change a college can make before the next exam cycle.

Ragging, grievances and where a complaint goes

Recommendation 3.1.3 requires strict implementation of NMC's regulations on ragging, with active anti-ragging cells and strict penalties for offenders.

Recommendation 3.1.14 asks for transparent and responsive grievance redressal covering harassment and psychological stress, with training for faculty and administrators on mentorship, accountability and anti-harassment policies, and a feedback and complaint box placed in both the Dean's office and the warden's office.

Recommendation 3.1.15 goes further and asks NMC itself to establish a national portal for grievance redressal, with a dedicated cell to manage the workflow. That is a recommendation addressed to the regulator, so a student today should use the routes their college and NMC already publish rather than look for a portal built under this proposal.

Living conditions on campus

The report treats hostels, food and physical health as part of mental health rather than separate from it.

• Infrastructure (3.1.7). Well-maintained hostels, clean washrooms, safe drinking water, quality food, security, recreational facilities and reasonable fees.

• Hostel mess (3.1.8). Students involved in menu planning and quality control, with diverse cultural, religious and dietary preferences accommodated.

• Campus clinic (3.1.6). Free diagnostics and treatment, including medicines, for physical and mental health issues within the campus.

• Families and childcare (3.1.11). On-site childcare, family accommodation for married students and daycare services.

• Library and study space (3.1.28). Digitised library facilities, reading rooms in hostels and extended library hours.

• Sports and physical activity (3.1.43). Diverse sports activities overseen by a sports committee, with time actually allotted for them.

Who is supposed to make this happen inside a college

Recommendation 3.1.42 is the implementation mechanism, and it is unusually specific about who sits on it. The Mental Health and Wellbeing Committee is to be chaired by the Dean, with the heads of Medicine, Surgery, and Obstetrics and Gynaecology as co-chairs, and the head of Psychiatry as Member Secretary. The report adds that heads of every department should be members "to ensure the implementation of these recommendations".

Recommendation 3.3.3 requires mandatory reporting of suicide attempts and deaths by suicide, which the report frames as necessary for data collection, accountability and designing interventions.

What a student or parent can practically do with this

1. Ask whether your college has a Mental Health and Wellbeing Committee, and who chairs it. Recommendation 3.1.42 says it should be the Dean.

2. Ask how many counsellors the college employs against its student numbers. The benchmark in 3.1.5 is two per 500 students.

3. Cite the recommendation number in writing when raising something with the administration. A numbered recommendation from an NMC task force is a different conversation from a general request.

4. Use Tele MANAS if support is needed now, rather than waiting for a college system to be built.

For families choosing a college, these questions are also worth asking before admission rather than after. The counselling stage is where that choice gets made, and our guide to the NEET counselling process covers how the rounds work, with the postgraduate rounds set out separately in our guide to counselling for NEET PG. What a postgraduate resident is formally entitled to, as opposed to what is recommended, comes from the Post-Graduate Medical Education Regulations, 2023.

Where to get support

Tele MANAS is the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare's tele-mental health service, launched on 10 October 2022. It is free, available 24 hours a day, and reachable on 14416. The task force report names it as the 24-hour support system colleges should point students towards.

If you are worried about someone, the report's own approach is worth borrowing: the people who notice first are usually classmates and colleagues, and telling someone in a position to help is the step that matters most.

Frequently asked questions

What is the NMC task force on medical student mental health?

The National Task Force on Mental Health and Well-being of Medical Students, constituted by NMC's Anti-Ragging Cell and chaired by Dr. Suresh Bada Math of NIMHANS. Its report is dated June 2024 and was published on the NMC website on 14 August 2024.

How many recommendations did the task force make?

44 recommendations apply universally across medical colleges, numbered 3.1.1 to 3.1.44. A further two cover identifying and referring high-risk students, and three cover students with mental illness or who have attempted suicide, making 49 numbered items in all.

What duty hours did the task force recommend?

No more than 74 hours per week and no more than 24 hours at a stretch, including one day off per week, a 24-hour duty and 10-hour shifts on the remaining five days, with 7 to 8 hours of daily sleep. This is recommendation 3.1.9.

Are these recommendations binding on colleges?

They are recommendations, not regulations. They carry the authority of an NMC task force report but do not have the force of the Post-Graduate Medical Education Regulations, 2023. A student can cite them by number when raising an issue with the administration.

How many counsellors should a medical college have?

At least two for every 500 students, reporting directly to the Dean, under recommendation 3.1.5. The same recommendation asks for confidential, accessible counselling services that are widely promoted, and a 24-hour support route such as Tele MANAS.

What does the report say about vacations?

Recommendation 3.1.21 asks colleges to consider a ten-day vacation at least once a year for both undergraduate and postgraduate students, granted on a rotational basis, so that students can spend time with their families.

Who is responsible for implementing this inside a college?

A Mental Health and Wellbeing Committee under recommendation 3.1.42, chaired by the Dean, with the heads of Medicine, Surgery, and Obstetrics and Gynaecology as co-chairs and the head of Psychiatry as Member Secretary, and heads of all departments as members.

What is the helpline for medical students in India?

Tele MANAS, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare's tele-mental health service launched on 10 October 2022, is free and available 24 hours a day on 14416. The task force report names it as the support system colleges should direct students towards.