MINISTER OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE (SHRI GHULAM NABI AZAD)
(a)to(e): A statement is laid on the Table of the House.
STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO.317 FOR 14TH DECEMBER, 2012
(a)&(b): To address the huge burden of mental disorders and acute shortage of qualified professionals in the field of
mental health, Government of India is implementing the National Mental Health Programme (NMHP) since 1982 with the
following components:
i. District Mental Health Programme
ii. Up-gradation of Psychiatric Wings of Govt. Medical Colleges
iii. Modernization of Government Mental Hospitals
During the 11th Five Year Plan, the NMHP had been restructured to include Manpower Development Schemes.
Under the Manpower Development Scheme (Scheme-A), 11 Centres of Excellence in the field of mental health
have been taken up in the country.
Under Manpower Development Scheme (Scheme-B), support has been provided to 27 PG Departments in mental health specialties viz. Psychiatry (7 Departments), Clinical Psychology (7 Departments), Psychiatric Social Work (6 Departments) and Psychiatric Nursing (7 Departments).
As a result of implementation of Manpower Development Schemes (Scheme – A and Scheme - B) in the country, a total of 151 new PG seats in mental health specialties have been created in the supported Institutes.
Further, the following achievements have been made,
I. District Mental Health Programme with added components of Life Skills Education and Counselling in Schools and Colleges, suicide prevention services etc. is currently under implementation in 123 Districts of the country.
II. Up-gradation of 88 Psychiatric Wings of Government Medical College has been supported under the scheme
III. Modernization of 29 Government Mental Hospitals has been supported under the scheme.
The details of funds allocated and utilised under NMHP during last three financial years and the current financial year is at Annexure – I. The details of funds released under NMHP Scheme wise/ State wise/ UT wise during the last three years and the current year is at Annexure – II.
(c)&(d): The 12th Plan proposal for NMHP aims at focusing on the functional and service delivery aspects of NMHP. It will emphasise on integration of mental health with general health, availability of mental health professionals, promotion of community participation in service delivery etc.
(e) The Government has constituted a Policy Group to work on framing a Mental Health Policy for India keeping
in mind internationally accepted guidelines and also the specific context of mental illness in India.
