In a country where nearly 80 percent of people suffering from mental health issues do not receive treatment, it is important to focus on strengthening availability of skilled professionals and improving grassroots access to services beyond urban areas
Nirmala Sitharaman had announced the launch of a national tele-mental health programme, in order to provide better access to mental health counseling and care services
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On February 9, in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha, Nityanand Rai, Union minister of state for home affairs, said that 3,548 people had died by suicide due to unemployment in 2020.
He was quoting data from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), which further suggested that during the same year, in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, 5,213 people had died by suicide due to indebtedness and bankruptcy. In all, more than 25,000 people in India had died by suicide either due to unemployment or indebtedness between 2018 and 2020.