Union HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank has launched the Manodarpan initiative of HRD Ministry to provide psychosocial support to students for their mental health and well-being. Minister of State for HRD, Sanjay Dhotre also graced the occasion. Secretary, Department of Higher Education, Amit Khare; Secretary, School Education and Literacy Anita Karwal and senior officials of the Ministry were present on the occasion.
The HRD Minister also launched a toll-free helpline, a special web page of Manodarpan on the portal of HRD Ministry, and a handbook.
The HRD Minister said “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”.
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Pokhriyal informed that 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. So, Ministry has taken an initiative, named, Manodarpan covering a wide range of activities to provide Psychosocial Support to students for their Mental Health & Well-being during the COVID outbreak and beyond.
The Minister informed that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, launched the ATMANIRBHAR BHARAT ABHIYAN and, the Manodarpan initiative has been included in it, as a part of strengthening human capital and increasing productivity and efficient reform and initiatives for the education sector.
