Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare Jagat Prakash Nadda launched several new initiatives, including Tele MANAS App for the National Tele Mental Health Programme (Tele MANAS) on the occasion of the World Mental Health Day in New Delhi today. The enhanced Tele MANAS App features Multilingual User Interface, Chatbot for users to engage with the app and an Emergency Module for guidance and support during emergencies. MANAS App will now be available in ten regional languages, in addition to the English and Hindi languages. Speaking on the occasion, Mr Nadda said, India is committed to ensuring equitable, affordable, and inclusive access to mental health services. He said, with the launch of the new features in the Tele-MANAS app, the government is strengthening its preparedness to respond effectively to mental health emergencies and expanding the reach of digital innovations to every corner of the country. On the impact of Tele MANAS towards providing mental health services to people, the Union Health Minister highlighted that since its inception, it has handled around 28 lakh calls, with trained counsellors engaging in more than 20 different languages. He informed that every day, about 4,000 people reach out for support, showing the effectiveness of the service in addressing mental health concerns. 

Union Health Secretary Punya Salila Srivastava highlighted that Mental Health is a special focus of this year’s theme at the United Nations. She noted that India’s digital initiatives including Tele MANAS is aimed at achieving universal health coverage. Actress  Deepika Padukone has been designated as the Mental Health Ambassador for raising awareness about access to mental health services.