Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare Jagat Prakash Nadda on Friday unveiled a series of new initiatives for the Tele MANAS app on the occasion of World Mental Health Day 2025, aimed at expanding access to mental health services across India.
The latest enhancements include a multilingual user interface, accessibility features for visually impaired users, an AI-powered chatbot named Asmi, and an emergency response module. With this upgrade, the app will now be available in 10 additional regional languages – Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu, Odia and Punjabi – apart from English and Hindi. The accessibility features are designed to make the platform more inclusive for persons with disabilities and vulnerable groups, while the chatbot and emergency modules offer real-time guidance and support.
Speaking at the launch, Nadda emphasized the importance of prioritizing mental health, stating, “A sound mind leads to a sound body, and a healthy nation. India is committed to ensuring equitable, affordable, and inclusive access to mental health services. The new Tele-MANAS features will strengthen our capacity to respond effectively to mental health emergencies and expand digital mental health services to every corner of the country.”
The minister also announced that actor Deepika Padukone has been appointed as the Mental Health Ambassador to help raise awareness and normalize conversations on mental health. “Her involvement as a national advocate will encourage people to seek timely support and help reduce stigma,” he added.
Highlighting the platform’s impact, Nadda shared that since its inception, Tele MANAS has handled around 28 lakh calls in more than 20 languages, with nearly 4,000 people reaching out for support daily. “The almost equal number of men and women seeking help shows growing awareness and acceptance,” he said.
Union Health Secretary Punya Salila Srivastava underlined that mental health remains a global priority, noting that Tele MANAS plays a key role in achieving universal health coverage. She encouraged stakeholders to provide feedback on the upgraded app to ensure continuous improvement.
Pratima Murthy, Director of National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS), stated that the new features will broaden access and improve the quality of mental health support. T. K. Srikanth, Principal Investigator at International Institute of Information Technology, Bangalore, highlighted that data security and privacy are built into the platform, with a modular design to accommodate future updates.
Mental health remains a key public health priority under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, supported by programmes such as the Ayushman Arogya Mandirs, the National Tele Mental Health Programme, and the District Mental Health Programme. Through these initiatives, the government aims to bridge the mental health treatment gap and build a resilient, inclusive, and accessible care ecosystem.
Senior officials including Aradhana Patnaik, Additional Secretary and MD of NHM, Vijay Nehra, Joint Secretary, and C. Naveen Kumar, Principal Investigator, Tele MANAS, were present at the event.
