The Economic Survey 2025-26, presented on Thursday (January 29, 2026), has flagged the rapid rise of digital addiction and screen-related mental health problems as a major healthcare issue, particularly among children and adolescents.
The Survey has recommended structured interventions including cyber-safety education, peer-mentor programmes, mandatory physical activity in schools, parental training on screen-time management, age-appropriate digital access policies, and platform accountability for harmful content.
It also suggests network-level safeguards such as differentiated data plans for educational-versus-recreational use and default blocking of high-risk content categories.
On mental healthcare delivery, the Survey proposes expanding the national Tele-MANAS programme beyond crisis counselling to actively address digital addiction. Integration with school and college systems and training of dedicated counsellors is recommended to normalise help-seeking behaviour and enable early intervention at scale.
Preventive healthcare approach
