niyati goyal:
Institute of Human Behaviour and Allied Science (IHBAS) has launched the National Tele-MANAS Programme, a Central government mental health scheme, for Delhi. Through this programme, the mentoring of institutions will be done across Delhi and a separate State Tele-MANAS Cell for Delhi state will be created.
IHBAS professor Dr Om Prakash said the Tele MANAS will also extend services to vulnerable groups of the population and populations such as the elderly population and rural population which are difficult to reach. IHBAS director Dr Rajinder Dhamija said the institute will, under this programme, provide access to accessible, affordable and quality mental health care through 24×7 tele-mental health counselling services to scale up the reach of mental health services. “The mission is to implement a fully-fledged mental health service network that, in addition to counselling, provides integrated medical and psychosocial interventions including video consultations with mental health specialists, e-prescriptions, follow-up services and linkages to in-person services,” said Dr Dhamija.
Under the programme, the IHBAS has been assigned to act as a regional coordinating centre for managing the Tele-MANAS programme across six states and Union Territories, including Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Delhi and Leh-Ladakh. Through this programme, the mentoring of institutions will be done through the regional coordinating centre. IHBAS Delhi is one among five such centres across India. Dr Prakash said 33 calls are being received per day on the Tele-MANAS Cell from across the country. IHBAS is also functioning as a coordinating centre for District Mental Health Programme (DMHP) cells for 11 districts in Delhi.