In a significant stride towards bolstering mental health infrastructure in India, Dr VK Paul, Member (Health) of NITI Aayog, inaugurated a pivotal two-day National Workshop on Mental Health on Thursday, which aims to bring together senior officers from all states, along with mentoring institutes for TeleMANAS, to address the issue in the country.
Dr Paul also announced the merger of the KIRAN Mental Health Rehabilitation Helpline with TeleMANAS.
According to the Ministry of Health, KIRAN Mental Health Rehabilitation Helpline has served over 1,27,390 callers since its establishment in September 2020 with Tele-Manas, the National Tele Mental Health Helpline.
Tele-Manas, launched by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on World Mental Health Day on 10 October 2022, has witnessed an exponential rise in service seekers and has since handled 6,75,000 calls, the government said.
“The merger between the two aims to optimize resources, enhance service quality, and address the increasing demand for mental health support in India by fostering a seamless transition and extensive public awareness about the merger process,” the Health Ministry said.
For the next three months, calls from KIRAN will be diverted to TeleMANAS and eventually, the first helpline will be phased out.
Speaking at the event, Dr Paul said that the country needs a ‘Jan Andolan’ with government, NGOs, and the general public alike coming forward to sensitise people on mental health issues.
“I appeal to everyone to come together on the mental health issues in the form of a ‘Jan Andolan’ in the interest of making India a healthy nation. “Everyone needs to be on board for the cause be it Government, Community, NGO, Individuals etc. then this cause can be won,” he said.
Dr Paul further said that the workshop will help find ways to redress mental health-related issues through a network of well-developed primary healthcare centres, the Ayushman Aarogya Mandir across the nation.
“The robust system of Ayushman Arogya Mandir can play a crucial role and will be helpful in reaching to all across the nation,” he added.-ANI