Over 500 psychiatrists made available to students during lockdown to help deal with stress: Ramesh Pokhriyal

Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal said that over 500 psychiatrists have been made available to the students during the pandemic and the subsequent lockdown to help them deal with mental health issues during this difficult time. While answering one of the queries raised by teachers during a webinar on Tuesday, Pokhriyal added that "We have launched a programme called My Book My Friend to help students with this. Students have also utilised this difficult time. As we saw at some of India's premier institutes such as the IITs where students have come up with remarkable solutions to fight the virus."

He added that even today around 300 psychiatrists are helping thousands of teachers and students to protect them from mental stress. "We have been promoting the students to practise Yoga and have helped to uplift the mental and physical health of teachers as well," he said during the #EducationMinisterGoesLive webinar on December 22.

The My Book My Friend initiative was launched in May to promote reading habits among students. CBSE had asked schools to be part of it saying that students sitting at home due to closure of schools may utilise their time reading books. The minister also spoke about the Manodarpan initiative that the MHRD had launched in July this year. The initiative was launched with an aim to provide psycho-social support and counselling to students for their mental health and well- being. Under the initiative, the minister launched a toll-free national helpline number ( 8448440632), a website of Manodarpan and a handbook on 21st-century life skills, for school, college and university students.

Pokhriyal was interacting with teachers on Tuesday through a webinar at 4 pm. "My dear #Teachers, I will be going live on December 22 at 4 pm to talk to you about the upcoming board #exams. Do tune in and share your concerns with me. #EducationMinisterGoesLive," the minister had tweeted earlier. Teachers, parents, students, and other stakeholders were asked to post their queries with the hashtag '#EducationMinisterGoesLive'.