Lok Sabha Question No. 3758 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-03-25
Subject: Mental Health Programme for Women
Ministry: HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE
Asked by: Vincent H Pala

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3758 TO BE ANSWERED ON 25 TH  MARCH, 2022

## MENTAL HEALTH PROGRAMME FOR WOMEN

## 3758.   SHRI VINCENT H. PALA:

Will the Minister of HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government has formulated any outreach measures for supporting mental health of housewives considering very high rate of suicides and, if so, the details thereof; and
- (b) the  number  of  women  who  have  availed  Government  services  under  manodarpan  and various other initiatives during the COVID-19 pandemic, State/UT-wise?

## ANSWER THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE (DR. BHARATI PRAVIN PAWAR)

(a):  To  address  the  burden  of  mental  disorders,  the  Government  of  India  implements  the National  Mental  Health  Programme  (NMHP).  The  Government  supported  to  implement  the District Mental Health Programme (DMHP) under NMHP in 704 districts of the country with the objectives to:

- (i) Provide  suicide  prevention  services,  work  place  stress  management,  life  skills training and counselling in schools and colleges.
- (ii) Provide  mental  health  services  including  prevention,  promotion  and  long-term continuing care at different levels of district healthcare delivery system.
- (iii) Augment  institutional  capacity  in  terms  of  infrastructure,  equipment  and  human resource for mental healthcare.
- (iv) Promote community awareness and participation in the delivery of mental healthcare services.

Facilities  made  available  under  DMHP  at  the  Community  Health  Centre(CHC)  and  Primary Health Centre(PHC) levels, include outpatient services, assessment, counselling/ psycho-social interventions,  continuing  care  and  support  to  persons  with  severe  mental  disorders,  drugs, outreach services, ambulance services etc. In addition to above services there is a provision of 10 bedded in-patient facility at the District level.

Besides the above, the Government has announced a 'National Tele Mental Health Programme' in the Budget of 2022-23, to further improve access to quality mental health counselling and care services in the country.

(b):  Manodarpan  is  an  initiative  of  the  Ministry  of  Education  as  part  of  'Atmanirbhar  Bharat Abhiyan'  which  aims  to  provide  psychosocial  support  to  students,  teachers  and  families  for mental  health  and  emotional  well-being  during  the  times  of  COVID-19  and  beyond.  The initiative  envisages  to  facilitate  peer  support  and  promote  positivity  and  enhance  life  skills among  students  during  Covid-19  pandemic  and  beyond.  The  various  activities  under  the Manodarpan  initiative,  which  focus  on  extending  support  and  addressing  the  Mental  Health concerns of target population (students, teachers and families) are as under:

- (i) An Interactive Voice Response System (IVRS) operated Toll-free tele-helpline is run to provide counselling to students, teachers and parents. Trained counsellors are providing counselling services from 8:00 am to 8:00 pm through the IVRS.
- (ii) Live interactive webinars 'Paricharcha' are organised every Friday from 2:30 to 4:00 pm. Live  interactive  sessions  'Sahyog'  with  practicing  counsellors  are  held  from  5:00-5:30 pm  (Monday-Friday)  across  different  regions  for  students  (classes  VI-XII).  These sessions  address  various  mental  health  and  emotional  well-being  concerns  of  students, parents  and  teachers  and  are  telecast  on  PM  e-vidya  channel  and  are  also  available  on 'NCERT Official' YouTube Channel.
- (iii) A  webpage  (https://manodarpan.education.gov.in/)  on  the  website  of  the  Ministry  of Education to provide advisory and guidelines for students, parents and teachers as well as directory of counsellors.

The State/UT-wise details of women who have availed Government services under manodarpan during  the  COVID-19  pandemic  are  not  available  with  the  Department  of  Health  and  Family Welfare.

Further, realizing the impact that COVID-19 may have on the mental health of the people, the Government has taken a number of initiatives to provide psychosocial support during COVID19. These initiatives include:

- (i) Setting up  of a 24/7 helpline to provide  psychosocial  support, by  mental  health professionals,  to  the  entire  affected  population,  divided  into  different  target  groups  viz children, adult, elderly, women and healthcare workers.
- (ii) Issuance  of  guidelines/  advisories  on  management  of  mental  health  issues,  catering  to different segments of the society.
- (iii) Advocacy  through  various  media  platforms  in  the  form  of  creative  and  audio-visual materials on managing stress and anxiety, and promoting an environment of support and care for all.
- (iv) Issuance of detailed guidelines by the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS),  Bengaluru-  "Mental  Health  in  the  times  of  COVID-19 Pandemic - Guidance for General Medical and Specialized Mental Health Care Settings".
- (v) All the guidelines, advisories and advocacy material can be accessed on Ministry of Health and Family Welfare website under 'Behavioural Health -Psychosocial helpline' (https://www.mohfw.gov.in/).
- (vi) Online  capacity  building  of  health  workers  by  NIMHANS  in  providing  psychosocial support and training through (iGOT)-Diksha platform.

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