Gehlot launches 24x7 toll-free mental rehabilitation helpline

New Delhi: With the objective to provide psychological support to people, Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment Thaawarchand Gehlot on Monday launched a 24X7 toll-free mental rehabilitation helpline 'KIRAN' (1800-599-0019).

According to the Union Minister, the helpline will offer mental health rehabilitation services with the objective of early screening, first aid, psychological support, distress management, mental wellbeing, promoting positive behaviour and psychological crisis management.

"The helpline will function as a lifeline to provide advice, counselling and reference in 13 languages to individuals, families, NGOs, parent associations, professional associations, rehabilitation institutes, hospitals or anyone in need of support across the country," he said, adding that it will also be very useful for family members of those with mental illness.

While giving a presentation to highlight the salient features of the helpline, joint secretary Prabodh Seth said, "This toll-free helpline will be operational 24 hours in a day, seven days a week with the technical coordination of BSNL. It is backed by 660 clinical and rehabilitation psychologists and 668 psychiatrists".

The helpline will be functional in 13 languages which include Hindi, Assamese, Tamil, Marathi, Odia, Telugu, Malayalam, Gujarati, Punjabi, Kannada, Bengali, Urdu and English, he added.

Seth further said, "When 1800-599-0019 is dialled from any mobile phone or landline of any telecom network, from any part of India, one gets the option of selecting the language following which they get connected to the helpline centre of native or desired state."

The helpline is being coordinated by the National Institute for the Empowerment of Persons with Multiple Disabilities (NIEPMD), Chennai and National Institute of Mental Health Rehabilitation (NIMHR), Sehore.