‘Manodarpan’ to provide psychosocial support to students in Covid time
By Team BiharConnect
Students have been hit hard due to the coronavirus pandemic and lockdowns. All the educational institutions are closed in India since mid March this year. This has not only affected studies but also psychological issues among the students.
Union Ministry of Human Resource Development has launched an initiative called Manodarpan to provide psychosocial support to students for their mental health and well-being.
Under this initiative a Working Group, having experts from the fields of education, mental health and psychosocial issues as its members, has been set up to monitor and promote the mental health issues and concerns of students and to facilitate providing of support to address the mental health and psychosocial aspects during and after COVID-19 lockdown, through conselling services, online resources and helpline, said Union HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank.
Covid-19 is understandably a challenging time for everyone around the world. This Global pandemic is not only a serious medical concern, but also brings mixed emotions and psycho-social stress for all. With specific focus on children and adolescents, there are emerging mental health concerns that are often reported in such situations. Children and adolescents may be more vulnerable and may experience heightened level of stress, anxiety and fearfulness, along with a range of other emotional and behavioural issues.
“The HRD Ministry has felt that while it is important to focus on continuing education on the academic front, the mental well-being of the students also needs to be given equal importance,” the minister said.
A website (http://manodarpan.mhrd.gov.in/) has been created to help the students. The website contains advisory, practical tips, posters, podcasts, videos, dos and donts for psychosocial support, FAQs and online query system. A National Toll-free lpline (8448440632) has also been set up. This unique helpline shall be managed by a pool of experienced counselors/ Psychologists and other mental health professionals and will continue beyond the COVID-19 situation. Through this helpline tele-counselling will be provided to the students to address their mental health and psychosocial issues.
