Karnataka has tele counselled a total of 23 lakh people till date

Bengaluru: Karnataka Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar expressed that it is a matter of immense pride for Karnataka that the union government has launched the brand new T-Manas program which is based on Karnataka's E-Manas platform. The new initiative was launched at the state level by Karnataka Governor Thawar Chand Gehlot at the 26th Convocation of NIMHANS that took place in Bengaluru on Monday.

The T-MANAS platform will function as a 24/7 mental health facility across the country. Karnataka initially launched a tele-counselling program in association with NIMHANS when the pandemic first struck. The primary objection of the initiative was to address the stress caused due to Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown. The initiative saw immense success and the Karnataka government also experimented an online counselling for students at a time when the class 10 results were announced in the state. Karnataka has completed a total of 23 lakh tele-counselling till date.

The E-Manas platform of Karnataka is one stop location for mental health. The platform connects patients, mental health professionals and mental health institutions.

Minister Sudhakar said, "It is a heartening to see that Prime Minister Narendra Modi Ji and Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya Ji are taking proactive steps to focus on improving mental health in the country. I am proud to say that Karnataka has played a pioneering role in focusing on mental health."

Minister Sudhakar also highlighted Karnataka's new brain health initiative which aims to train PHC doctors to diagnose and treat mental health and other brain related illnesses. Minister Sudhakar stated that one day in the week will be dedicated for this task at all the Primary and Secondary Health Centres in the state.