1. Rising Digital Addiction as a Public Health Concern
Digital addiction has rapidly escalated as a major behavioural health challenge, particularly among children and adolescents. The Economic Survey 2025–26 identifies excessive screen exposure as a driver of mental stress, sleep disruption, and impaired social development. This shift reflects the deep integration of digital ecosystems into education, entertainment, and social interaction.
The Survey highlights that unregulated digital access is reinforcing compulsive usage patterns. This intensifies vulnerability to harmful content, cyber risks, and attention-related disorders. The issue is no longer limited to urban households; affordable smartphones and low data costs have expanded the risk across socio-economic groups.
Countries such as Australia, France and several EU states have already moved towards restricting children’s social media access. India’s growing debate, like Andhra Pradesh’s consideration of a ban for under-16 users, reflects rising concern that unregulated platforms are undermining child welfare and learning outcomes.
Unchecked digital dependency weakens cognitive and emotional development in the most formative years, creating long-term social and economic costs. Preventive regulation becomes essential to balance digital inclusion with psychological safety.
Causes:
- Pandemic-induced isolation accelerating screen dependence
- Easy availability of smartphones and low-cost data
- Algorithms designed to maximise user engagement
- Lack of parental literacy on screen-time management
Impacts:
- Worsening attention spans and anxiety
- Exposure to harmful or age-inappropriate content
- Sedentary behaviour contributing to NCD risk
- Reduced quality of sleep and academic performance
2. Survey’s Recommended Interventions for Tackling Digital Addiction
The Economic Survey recommends structured, multi-level interventions that combine policy regulation, institutional support, and behavioural change. It emphasises cyber-safety education as part of school curriculum to build early digital literacy and resilience. Mandatory physical activity and peer-mentor systems are proposed to counter sedentary lifestyles and encourage healthy socialisation.
Parental capacity building is positioned as essential. The Survey argues for training parents in screen-time management and age-appropriate exposure strategies. This is crucial because household behaviour significantly shapes children’s digital habits.
At the systemic level, the Survey proposes age-based access norms and accountability standards for digital platforms. It additionally suggests differentiated data plans (educational vs. recreational) and default network-level blocking of high-risk categories to reduce exposure without restricting beneficial digital learning.
Without coordinated regulation, educational ecosystems and households remain overwhelmed by platform-driven incentives that promote compulsive use. Preventive digital governance ensures safer online experiences while preserving innovation.
Recommended Policies:
- Cyber-safety and digital wellness curriculum in schools
- Peer-mentor and counselling systems
- Age-appropriate digital access norms
- Parental awareness programmes
- Mandatory physical activity requirements
- Platform-level accountability for harmful content
3. Strengthening Mental Healthcare Delivery through Tele-MANAS
The Survey highlights the need to expand the national Tele-MANAS programme beyond crisis intervention to proactively address digital addiction. Integrating Tele-MANAS into schools and higher education spaces will normalise mental health help-seeking behaviour among youth.
Dedicated training of counsellors is proposed to create a scalable ecosystem for early identification and continuous support. This aligns with global best practices where integrating mental healthcare into educational institutions improves resilience and reduces long-term treatment burden.
The Survey suggests that such early interventions can help address growing mental health challenges fuelled by digital overload, peer pressure, and lifestyle disorders.
If mental health services remain limited to crisis response, early-stage symptoms escalate into chronic conditions that burden families and the healthcare system. Early integration ensures cost-effective, community-based support.
Key Measures:
- Expansion of Tele-MANAS to routine digital addiction support
- Embedding services in schools and colleges
- Training dedicated counsellors
- Encouraging early help-seeking practices
4. Shift from Treatment-Centric to Preventive Healthcare
The Survey underscores a strategic reorientation of India’s health policy towards preventive and public health measures. This shift is driven by the recognition that economic productivity depends on a healthy, functional workforce.
India is experiencing a growing burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as diabetes, obesity, hypertension, cardiovascular ailments, and mental health conditions. These are increasingly affecting working-age adults, creating long-term productivity losses.
Communicable diseases continue to coexist with NCDs, forming a dual burden that strains healthcare systems. Preventive nutrition, digital wellness, and early screening practices are highlighted as essential investments.
Neglecting preventive healthcare locks the system into high treatment costs and low productivity, while early investment in public health yields long-term economic dividends.
NCD Trends:
- Rising lifestyle-related diseases among younger populations
- Increased prevalence of obesity, diabetes, hypertension
- Stress-induced cardiovascular risks linked to modern lifestyles
Proposed Preventive Focus:
- Community-level health systems
- Digital wellness interventions
- Nutrition and lifestyle promotion
- Technology-enabled surveillance
5. Improvements in Maternal and Child Health Indicators
The Economic Survey notes significant achievements in maternal and child health since 1990. India has reduced its Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR) by 86%, surpassing the global average reduction of 48%.
Under-five mortality (U5MR) has declined by 78%, compared with the 61% global decline. Neonatal mortality (NMR) has reduced by 70%, against the global decline of 54%. Additionally, the Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) dropped by more than 37% from 2013 to 2023 (40 to 25 per 1,000 live births).
These gains reflect sustained investment in institutional deliveries, immunisation, maternal care, and community health systems. The progress demonstrates India’s potential to achieve global benchmarks when policy emphasis remains consistent.
If momentum slows, gains may plateau, especially in underserved regions where maternal and infant health outcomes remain uneven. Continued investment is critical to consolidate progress.
Key Statistics:
- MMR ↓ 86% (1990–2023)
- U5MR ↓ 78%
- NMR ↓ 70%
- IMR ↓ 37% (2013–2023)
6. Expert Observations from the Article (Value Addition)
"Excessive screen time aggravates all lifestyle diseases. Preventive strategies include exercise, stress management, and lifestyle changes from a young age." — Dr. Roma Kumar
"Traditional food with fruits, vegetables and fish plus 30 minutes of exercise daily could save us." — Vinay Agarwal, former IMA President
These observations reinforce the Survey’s emphasis on preventive health. Experts highlight how screen dependency intertwines with India’s rising lifestyle disorders, creating a compounded behavioural-health-NCD loop.
Expert insights underline the necessity of mainstreaming behavioural health into preventive policies; failure to do so can entrench NCD prevalence across generations.
Conclusion
The Economic Survey 2025–26 positions digital addiction, mental health, and lifestyle disorders as emerging determinants of India’s economic trajectory. By emphasising preventive healthcare, digital wellness regulation, and early mental health support, the Survey aligns public health with long-term human capital development. Sustained implementation of these measures will be crucial for preserving India’s demographic dividend and ensuring a healthier, more productive population.
