NIMHANS mental health courses on cellphones
New Delhi, June 27: Health Minister J.P. Nadda on Wednesday launched NIMHANS Digital Academy to train mental health professionals through virtual classrooms, saying the government will see if mental health disorders can be screened at primary health centres under Ayushman Bharat.
"We must match speed, skill and scale to implement the Mental Healthcare Act, 2017," he said while addressing the first batch of professionals enrolled for undergoing courses in psychiatry and psychiatric social work.
Nadda said the Act brings forth a stronger and more robust legal scaffold and humane and patient-centric rights based approach for mental healthcare in the country, according to a statement by the Health and Family Welfare Ministry.
"We have to be ambitious and ensure that the Act increases in scale of operations," he said. The minister also released the training modules and curricula for various training programmes to be undertaken at the NIMHANS Digital Academy.
About 150,000 sub-centres that will be converted into Health and Wellness Centres under Ayushman Bharat to deliver comprehensive primary health care, Nadda said: "In the coming times, we have to see if we can detect mental health disorders at these centres and if it can be included in the universal screening ... We can think of training our frontline functionaries in detection."
National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS), Bengaluru, which has always been in the forefront of capacity building and human resource training in the mental health sector, has an established infrastructure for starting a digital academy.
Through the academy, it will provide large scale training to healthcare service providers like medical officers, psychologists, social workers and nurses to deliver quality mental healthcare services throughout the country.
Up to 50 people can be trained in the virtual classroom with only a mobile phone with 3G connection required at the receiver's end. The courses for different categories of healthcare providers would be of about 30 hours duration each and spread across a period of three months.
The courses will be digitally delivered to remotely located healthcare providers across the country. After successful completion of the course and evaluation, the participants will be awarded "Diploma in Community Mental Health" by NIMHANS, Bengaluru.
Similar training programmes will also be started by the Central Institute of Psychiatry, Ranchi, and Lokopriya Gopinath Bordoloi Regional Institute of Mental Health, Tezpur, and other mental health institutes supported by the ministry.
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Rajnath Singh chairs IGoM meet, urges constant vigil over West Asia crisis
New Delhi (PTI): Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday emphasised the need for round-the-clock monitoring of the West Asia conflict and called for a calibrated response to deal with any eventuality to ensure that national interests remain protected.
Singh made the comments while chairing a high-level meeting of the Informal Group of Ministers (IGoM) set-up to monitor the situation in West Asia.
The meeting was attended by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, Power Minister Manohar Lal, Chemicals and Fertilizers Minister J P Nadda, Consumer Affairs Minister Prahlad Joshi and Minister of Railways, Information and Broadcasting, Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw.
In view of the "uncertain situation", the defence minister underlined the importance of round-the-clock monitoring of the situation and the need to respond in a calibrated manner to deal with any eventuality, an official readout said.
He stressed on the need to leave no stone unturned to ensure that the people of the country face the minimum effect of the conflict, it said.
It was the second meeting of the IGoM after it was set up last month.
The IGoM was apprised of the measures being taken by the government in the wake of the ongoing West Asia conflict, Singh said on social media.
"We also deliberated upon the next steps to be taken by the government to mitigate any adverse impact arising due to the ongoing conflict," he said.
The defence ministry said in the readout said, "In the meeting, the seven empowered groups of secretaries briefed the IGoM on the steps being taken to tackle the situation."
"The IGoM was apprised about measures undertaken by the Ministry of Finance to address concerns arising due to global trade disruptions and provide relief and support to the industry, especially manufacturing, and bolster investor confidence," it said.
It listed measures including notification issued on Wednesday on full customs duty exemption on 40 critical petrochemical products till June 30.
The ministry also mentioned announcement of a special one-time relief measure for eligible units in SEZs to sell manufactured goods in Domestic Tariff Area (DTA) at concessional customs duty rates to be effective from April 1 to March 31.
It also noted another notification issued by the Department of Revenue clarifying that the provisions of GAAR (General Anti Avoidance Rules) will not be invoked in respect of investments made prior to April 1, 2017.
"These measures will reduce cost pressures on downstream sectors including textiles, packaging and pharmaceuticals, facilitate supply stability in the country and provide requisite clarity for investors contemplating investments in India," the readout said.
Defence Minister Singh appreciated the government's decision to impose a 25 per cent cap on the monthly increase in aviation turbine fuel prices for domestic operations, with effect from April 1.
This step will help protect the people from sudden increase in fares, he said.
The government has accorded highest priority to domestic LPG supply, with refinery production enhanced to fully meet consumption requirements, according to the readout.
"The IGoM was informed that there have been no reports of dry-out at LPG distributorships, and delivery of domestic LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) cylinders continues as per the normal schedule. The temporary supply concerns arose due to instances of hoarding and black marketing, which triggered panic buying in certain areas," it said.
The ministers were informed that strict enforcement action is being undertaken, with raids being carried out across multiple states and Union territories to curb hoarding and black marketing of LPG, the ministry said in the readout.
Action has also been taken against some LPG distributors who engaged in malpractices, it said.
"To support migrant labour and low-consumption households, the government is ensuring adequate availability of 5 kg free trade LPG cylinders, and since March 23, over 4.3 lakh such cylinders have been sold. Special focus is being given to states where demand is higher," it said.
The IGoM was apprised that industrial requirements dependent on commercial LPG are being met, with over 80 per cent of pre-crisis supply levels being maintained to ensure continuity of operations.
"Special meetings have been held with ministries and stakeholders of different industries to understand their demand and meet their needs. Oil PSUs are ensuring continued supply of Auto LPG across the country," the readout noted.
"However, some supply constraints are being faced by private operators due to their procurement challenges, which is why lines are being observed at PSU auto LPG pumps. Wherever the autos are dual feed and can use petrol, they are being encouraged to use petrol," it said.
