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On Friday, 4 September, the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment issued a press release announcing the virtual launch of the helpline.
The helpline aims to provide early screening, first-aid, psychological support, distress management, mental well-being, and psychological crisis management and will be managed by the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (DEPwD).
This is a major step in the right direction towards suicide prevention. It is surprising that India lacked a national helpline number.
The people who run it are professionals from various backgrounds like speech and language pathologists, psychologists, special educators, etc.
The site currently suffers from a few technical glitches and connection issues at the moment but that can be credited to the initial stages of the launch.
Raashi Thakran, A mental health advocate and marketing executive at YourDost is the reason that the helpline exists in the first place. Certain personal reasons involving her 18 year old brother getting caught in the vicious grasp of suicide, provoked her to look out for others and research more about suicide. To her surprise, she could find very less about it and even less about the resources for it’s prevention.
From places of great pain comes an unparalleled determination, and Raashi started a Change.org petition (SHE CREATES CHANGE) addressed to Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan to create a national helpline for suicide.
And just over a year later, the Central government has launched KIRAN.
It basically comprises of volunteers which number roughly around 660 clinical and rehabilitation psychologists; 668 volunteer psychiatrists; 75 other experts at 25 helpline centres which are accessible in 13 Indian languages.
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