Mental Health care is the right of all individuals. While the aforementioned remains a fact that the Western world has adopted into its healthcare initiatives, the Eastern Hemisphere still struggles. Especially the subcontinent of India, which is developing at a rate faster than ever, still finds itself stumbling towards accessible and adequate mental healthcare.
The people of the country who endorse the importance of mental health hesitate to reach out for help. Those professionals who can provide the necessary resources find themselves lost in a sea of bureaucracy. The government launches initiatives aimed towards mental health, but the lack of funds makes these programs fall short. India grapples with a growing mental health crisis, a byproduct of its development. And despite efforts to attain the status of ‘India ’, the mental health ecosystem and those who support it remain overlooked.
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Whose Responsibility is Mental Health in India?
True growth and development are fostered when responsibility and accountability exist. One of the very central challenges faced by the provision of adequate mental health care for Indians is that no single branch of the government is responsible for it. Instead, it is diffused across multiple government departments, allowing underperformance and ambiguity in accountability to foster. Some of the key ministries involved are:
1. Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
One of the key departments of the government involved in it is through various initiatives aimed at serving the masses, such as the National Mental Health Program, District Mental Health Program and Tele MANAS. It is also the seat of the Central Mental Health Authority, which regulates mental health services and establishments across the nation. (National Mental Health Programme (NMHP) | Ministry of Health and Family Welfare | GOI, n.d.) Despite its important responsibility of regulating and funding initiatives, manpower and institutions for mental health, the ministry often aims its energies towards physical health, leaving mental health care endeavours underfunded.
2. Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment
Mental illness is categorised as a disability in India (Balakrishnan et al., 2019). This ministry, specifically the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities, is responsible for rehabilitation services, social welfare schemes and establishment of community-based support (Justice, n.d.). The Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan, which aims to address nationwide substance abuse, is one of the many initiatives launched by this ministry. However, due to poor coordination with the Health Ministry, efforts often overlap or get lost in the bureaucracy.
3. Ministry of Education
The responsibility of the provision of mental health services for children and adolescents, especially in educational institutions, is shared by this ministry. Initiatives include the development of guidelines for early identification and intervention of mental health problems in school-going children, training teachers and counsellors, Manodarpan and more. However, a lack of proper training and manpower makes these initiatives difficult.
4. Ministry of Women and Child Development
Juvenile delinquents, survivors of abuse, and vulnerable women and children are populations that remain at risk for mental illness. Provision of shelter homes, child care homes where mental health services are provided, remains a vital function of this ministry (MENTAL HEALTH ASSISTANCE IN SHELTER HOMES, n.d.). However, mental health is only a tertiary concern for the department.
5. Other Ministries
The Ministry of Labour and Employment tends to workplace stress, burnout, and mental illness among workers according to the National Mental Health Programme (National Mental Health Programme (NMHP) | Ministry of Health and Family Welfare | GOI, n.d.). Simultaneously, the Ministry of Home Affairs focuses on the provision of mental health care for prison populations, law enforcement personnel and survivors of war and disaster (Home | Ministry of Home Affairs, n.d.).
It becomes clear that no single ministry is responsible for the provision of mental healthcare in India. The multiplicity of ministries involved in the provision of mental healthcare has allowed a lot of confusion and malpractice to emerge. Despite programmes and initiatives, which can help deal with the mental health crisis, this fractured system, which remains criminally underfunded, allows services to fall through and leave professionals without support. The lack of coordination and monitoring of these ministries allows mental healthcare to remain a passive priority.
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Key Legislative Acts
The legislative journey of India surrounding mental health began in British India with the Indian Lunacy Act of 1912. This act provided a legal framework for the care, custody and management of individuals with mental illness who were deemed as “lunatics” (Firdosi & Ahmad, 2016). Since then, the aggressive approach to mental health has evolved even in legislative spaces, allowing for a more progressive legal framework to appear.
The Mental Healthcare Act of 2017 is a rights-based legislation that aligns with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (Malhotra, 2023). The introduction of this act marked a significant shift in India’s approach towards mental illness, addressing all facets of the nation, which could prosper with appropriate mental healthcare.
The MHCA 2017 revolutionised mental health conversation in India, suggesting that access to mental health care services is a fundamental right of all individuals that must be funded by the state (Vadlamani & Gowda, 2019). Simultaneously, it made provisions to protect individuals with mental illness from inhuman treatment along with the decriminalisation of suicide (Vadlamani & Gowda, 2019). These fundamental shifts in the approach towards mental health allowed the narrative to turn into one of compassion rather than punishment.
Despite the revolutionary nature of MHCA 2017, it was supported by weak enforcement mechanisms, making it unimplementable for the actual population (Malhotra, 2023). Experience with the various provisions of this act has created hindrances in the delivery of treatment, suggesting an urgent need for amendment, if not total repulsion of the act.
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A Way Forward
On paper, India’s mental health policy framework reflects a growing commitment to accessible and adequate mental healthcare for all. With progressive legislations such as the MHCA 2017 and supportive programmes such as the National Mental Health Program, Ayushman Bharat Initiative, and Manodarpan, among many more, the country is slowly walking down the path of appropriate mental healthcare. However, these steps reflect a great shift in theory, but not in execution, suggesting the requirement of structural reforms.
With the involvement of multiple ministries that fail to coordinate with each other. It becomes vital that a central coordinating authority or mental health commission be established to oversee all mental healthcare efforts across ministries. The establishment of such an authority will foster coherence in policy across sectors, joint planning, appropriate budgeting, evaluation of programmes and more. This dedicated body will also be able to enrich and streamline the educational endeavours that any individual must take up to provide mental healthcare.
While the population of India slowly begins to de-stigmatise the need for mental health care, the government must integrate it into all public services. This would allow mental health to go beyond hospitals, asylums, and clinics, and even integrate psychological support into the workplace, schools, reform centres, and the overall community. Greater integration of mental health into society will also allow a wide spectrum of mental illnesses, other than schizophrenia or psychosis, to be given equal importance and treated effectively.
Legislative acts, programmes and even efforts to make them successful in reality will go underserved and ignored without appropriate funds. Less than 1.3% of the total health budget in India is allocated towards mental health, which is significantly lower than the WHO (Mahashur, 2025). The provision of greater funds towards mental healthcare will allow the development of institutions, professionals, and services that are able to do justice to the legal frameworks on paper.
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Conclusion
The framework of mental healthcare in India is layered and flawed. With progressive acts and multiple ministries, striving for mental well-being, the progress on paper is commendable. However, experiences and research suggest that the real-world impact and accessibility of mental healthcare in India remain negligible. These realities demand a systematic transformation in the approach adopted by the government towards mental healthcare. The basic human right to mental health means little without a system that can uphold it.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
1. What role do state governments play in Mental Health in India?
The state government is primarily responsible for implementing national mental health laws and programmes such as the District Mental Health Program and the Mental Healthcare Act 2017.
2. Are there any accountability mechanisms if mental health services are not delivered properly?
The Mental Health Care Act of 2017 mandates the right services and enforcement mechanisms, such as the mental health review board. However, these mechanisms are weak and inactive in many areas. This urges legal reform to address adequacy in mental health services, especially for the marginalised population.
3. Are mental health services insured in public health?
While the Ayushmann Bharat initiative does include mental health and coverage of psychiatric services in public health insurance, it only covers very specific inpatient services. Most outpatient services, which form the bulk of mental healthcare, are not covered. A wide variety of mental illnesses are also not considered for public health insurance. Only leaving the extreme illnesses, such as psychosis and schizophrenia, to be included.
4. How does India’s mental health policy compare with other countries?
India has only slowly started to accept the importance of mental health, which is why the legislation lags in comparison to other countries. Even with the presence of progressive reforms in the form of constitutional acts, the implementation of these is slow and fragmented. Other countries like the UK or Australia have more centralised mental health agencies and greater budgetary allocation, which result in more cohesive delivery of services. India still has a long way to go.
References +
About Us | Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan. (n.d.). https://nmba.dosje.gov.in/content/about-us
Balakrishnan, A., Kulkarni, K., Moirangthem, S., Kumar, C. N., Math, S. B., & Murthy, P. (2019). The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act 2016: Mental Health Implications. Indian Journal of Psychological Medicine, 41(2), 119–125. https://doi.org/10.4103/ijpsym.ijpsym_364_18
Firdosi, M. M., & Ahmad, Z. Z. (2016). Mental health law in India: origins and proposed reforms. BJPsych International, 13(3), 65–67. https://doi.org/10.1192/s2056474000001264
Home | Ministry of Home Affairs. (n.d.). https://www.mha.gov.in/en
Justice, S. (n.d.). Home | Department of Social Justice and Empowerment – Government of India. https://socialjustice.gov.in/
Mahashur, S. (2025, May 16). Mental Health Funding in India: When Economic Surveys and Budget Realities Diverge – The Wire. The Wire. https://thewire.in/health/mental-health-funding-in-india-when-economic-surveys-and-budget-realities-diverge
Malhotra, S. (2023). Mental Health Care Act 2017 at five years of its existence. Indian Journal of Psychiatry, 65(9), 971–973. https://doi.org/10.4103/indianjpsychiatry.indianjpsychiatry_538_23
MENTAL HEALTH ASSISTANCE IN SHELTER HOMES. (n.d.). https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleaseIframePage.aspx?PRID=1907183
National Mental Health Programme (NMHP) | Ministry of Health and Family Welfare | GOI. (n.d.). https://www.mohfw.gov.in/?q=en/Major-Programmes/non-communicable-diseases-injury-trauma/National-Mental-Health-Programme-NMHP
Vadlamani, L., & Gowda, M. (2019). Practical implications of the Mental Healthcare Act 2017: Suicide and suicide attempt. Indian Journal of Psychiatry, 61(10), 750. https://doi.org/10.4103/psychiatry.indianjpsychiatry_116_19
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