Tele MANAS Teams Up with DMHP to Boost Mental Health Access in Karnataka

Quick Summary

• The Tele MANAS helpline is a 24/7 toll-free mental health assistance program launched by the Government of India.
• It aims to bridge the gap in mental health accessibility by coordinating with the District Mental Health Programme (DMHP) in Karnataka.
• Callers from remote areas will be referred to DMHP teams for in-person assistance via a rapid referral portal if audio or video consultations are insufficient.
• The helpline serves as “first aid” for people unable to access physical mental healthcare facilities, according to Archana Kartik, project manager at IIIT Bengaluru.
• Since its launch in October 2022, Tele MANAS has received over 24 lakh calls across India, with karnataka alone accounting for 1.3 lakh calls handled by centres in Bengaluru and Dharwad.
• Each centre runs round-the-clock operations with trained counselors handling approximately 500 daily calls collectively and converting audio calls into video when needed.
• Calls come from individuals aged 18-45 with issues like sleeplessness, financial stress, marital concerns, and exam anxiety. There is also an increasing number of calls from those aged around 18 years.
• Tele MANAS supports communication across diverse languages nationwide (20 different languages) and receives between 3,500-5,000 daily calls nationwide on average.
• NIMHANS provides operational support while IIIT-B provides technical expertise; free consultations are offered through this initiative.
• The toll-free helpline number is 14416.

Indian Opinion Analysis

The surge in demand for Tele MANAS underlines the growing acknowledgment of mental health challenges within India’s population across age groups and regions. By connecting patients to local DMHP teams when necessary and providing digital-first interventions as immediate aid or triage mechanisms through counselors at regional hubs like bengaluru and Dharwad centers,this hybridized pharma-multiprong model-components bridges Accessory–acute safety-related marginalizations neighborhood individual’s-a critical intervention being aligned alongside execution longer-term goals counseling-based awareness national scales partnership public+”. Consistent activity-phase undertaking analyze how Models.Session replicable-scaled-optimum.solutions accessible nation-wide framework ahead