The Central Government has sanctioned District Mental Health Programme (DMHP) for implementation in 738 districts for which support is provided to States/UTs through the National Health Mission. Facilities made available under DMHP at the Community Health Centre(CHC) and Primary Health Centre(PHC) levels, include outpatient services, assessment, counselling/ psycho-social interventions, continuing care and support to persons with severe mental disorders, drugs, outreach services, ambulance services etc.
The Government is also augmenting the availability of manpower to deliver mental healthcare services in the underserved areas of the country by providing online training courses to various categories of general healthcare medical and para medical professionals through the Digital Academies, since 2018, established at the three Central Mental Health Institutes namely National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences, Bengaluru, Lokopriya Gopinath Bordoloi Regional Institute of Mental Health, Tezpur, Assam, and Central Institute of Psychiatry, Ranchi.
Mental health services have been added in the package of services under Comprehensive Primary Health Care under Ayushman Bharat – HWC Scheme. Operational guidelines on Mental, Neurological, and Substance Use Disorders (MNS) at Health and Wellness Centres (HWC) have been released under the ambit of Ayushman Bharat.
