MENTAL HEALTHCARE IN RURAL INDIA: RIGHTS ON PAPER VS REALITY ON GROUND

AUTHOR – ADITI RAWAT* & ASHUTOSH MISHRA**

* STUDENT AT LAW COLLEGE DEHRADUN, UTTARANCHAL UNIVERSITY

** ASSISTANT PROFESSOR AT LAW COLLEGE DEHRADUN, UTTARANCHAL UNIVERSITY

BEST CITATION – ADITI RAWAT & ASHUTOSH MISHRA, MENTAL HEALTHCARE IN RURAL INDIA: RIGHTS ON PAPER VS REALITY ON GROUND, INDIAN JOURNAL OF LEGAL REVIEW (IJLR), 6 (8) OF 2026, PG. 690-696, APIS – 3920 – 0001 & ISSN – 2583-2344. DOI – https://doi.org/10.65393/IJLRV6I873

Abstract

Mental healthcare in rural India tells us about one of the deepest loopholes within the Indian welfare system. While India has its own progressive legislation through the Mental Healthcare Act, 2017, millions of rural citizens continue to have a harsh reality in silence without any doctors, counselling, rehabilitation, or even dignity. The major gap between legal guarantees and ground realities reveals structural inequalities rooted in poverty, caste discrimination, illiteracy, social stigma, gender injustice, and weak healthcare infrastructure. This article critically examines mental healthcare in rural India through the view of Sustainable Development Goal 10 (Reduced Inequalities). It analyses constitutional protections, statutory safeguards, judicial interventions, and the implementation crisis affecting vulnerable communities. The article further explores the emotional, social, and economic consequences of untreated mental illness in villages and remote regions. By integrating legal analysis with a human rights perspective, the article argues that mental healthcare must be treated not merely as a medical concern but as a question of equality, dignity, and social justice in India.

Keywords: Mental Healthcare, Rural India, SDG 10, Mental Healthcare Act 2017, Right to Health, Rural Healthcare, Mental Illness, Social Justice, Public Health Policy, Community Mental Health, Human Rights