The Government has launched a “National Tele Mental Health Programme” on 10th October, 2022, to further improve access to quality mental health counselling and care services in the country. NIMHANS, Bengaluru is the National Apex Centre, coordinated activities of Tele MANAS across India. For the year 2022-23, a total of Rs. 120.98 crore has been allocated for National Tele-Mental Health Programme (NTMHP).
A total of 43,861 calls have been received up to 31.01.2023 across India under Tele-MANAS. The services under Tele-MANAS Programme are provided through 130 Mental Health Professionals, 173 DMHP personnel and 580 Tele-MANAS Counsellors. At present, the Tele-MANAS services are available in 20 languages based on languages opted by states: Hindi, English, Kannada, Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Konkani, Marathi, Gujarati, Assamese, Bengali, Odia, Punjabi, Kashmiri, Bodo, Dogri, Urdu, Manipuri, Mizo and Rajasthani.
The Government conducted the National Mental Health Survey (NMHS) of India through the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS), Bengaluru in 2016, which states that the prevalence of mental disorders in adults over the age of 18 years is about 10.6%. The treatment gap for mental disorder range 70% to 92% for different disorders.
The budget allocated for mental health services under the Ministry, including allocation for the following institutes 2019, year-wise is as follows:
- National Mental Health Programme (NMHP)
- District Mental Health Programme (DMHP)
- National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS), Bengaluru
- Lokopriya Gopinath Bordoloi Regional Institute of Mental Health (LGBRIMH), Tezpur Assam
- Central Institute of Psychiatry (CIP), Ranchi
| Sr. No. | Year | Total Health Budget (Rs. in Crore) | Total Allocation for Mental Health (Rs. in Crore) |
| 1 | 2019-20 | 62659.12 | 747.85 |
| 2 | 2020-21 | 65011.80 | 713.01 |
| 3 | 2021-22 | 71268.77 | 846.17 |
| 4 | 2022-23 | 83000.00 | 949.74 |
The Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, Dr. Bharati Pravin Pawar stated this in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha yesterday.
