Dr V K Paul, Member (Health), NITI Aayog inaugurated two-day National Workshop on Mental Health, in New Delhi on 15th February. The workshop aims to bring together senior officers from all the states along with mentoring institutes for TeleMANAS, marking a significant step towards addressing mental health challenges in the nation.

On this occasion, Dr Paul announced the merger of the KIRAN Mental Health Rehabilitation Helpline with TeleMANAS. 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.

TeleMANAS, launched by the Ministry of Health & 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 merger between the two aims to optimise 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. For the next three months, calls from KIRAN will be diverted to TeleMANAS and eventually, the first helpline will be phased out.

Three manuals namely Training Manual for Implementation of Mental Healthcare Act, 2017 for Legal Aid Providers, for Caregivers and Reference and for Mental Healthcare Professionals of Central Mental Health Authority were released on this occasion. These manuals are meant to serve as a vital resource aimed at simplifying the complexities of the Mental Healthcare Act, 2017. These are tailored for legal aid providers, mental health practitioners, and caregivers and offer comprehensive guidance on navigating the legal framework surrounding mental healthcare in India.