On October 8, 2020, Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment, Thaawarchand Gehlot virtually inaugurated the “International Conference on Mental Health: Looking Beyond COVID-19”.
The conference was organized by the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (DEPwD), Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment in association with University of Melbourne, Australia.
Key Points:
i.Professor Craig Jeffrey, Director of Australia-India Institute co-chaired the conference.
ii.Union Minister highlighted the various initiatives taken by Government of India to address mental health concerns in India. The Initiatives are
- Setting up of National Institute of Mental Health Rehabilitation at Sehore, Madhya Pradesh.
- KIRAN Mental Health Rehabilitation Helpline.
iii.The conference touched upon the issues of Stress management for frontline non-health workers, Maintaining mental health:Working from Home, Mental Health and Human Rights in India and Australia, tools to build Mental Health Resilience for people with disability.
iv.The conference was organized as part of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between Australia and India for cooperation in the disability sector in November, 2018.
Recent Related News:
i.On August 21, 2020, Central Government constituted the India’s first 30-member National Council for Transgender Persons to advice, monitor and evaluate measures for the protection of the rights of Transgender community.
About Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment:
Union Minister – Thaawarchand Gehlot
Minister of State (MoS) – Krishan Pal Gurjar, Rattan Lal Kataria, Ramdas Athawale
