4.78 million calls later, India's free mental-health helpline keeps answering

India's Tele-MANAS helpline — toll-free at 14416, confidential, round the clock, in about 20 languages — has now fielded 47.75 lakh calls (4.78 million) since its launch on October 10, 2022, the health ministry announced ahead of World Mental Health Day. Fifty-three support centers cover all 36 states and territories; nearly three-quarters of recorded callers are between 18 and 45, and they phone in about emotional distress, exam and work pressure, relationship strain, anxiety, and sleeplessness. Alongside the milestone, the ministry launched "MANN Jaagriti," a drive to cut stigma in schools, colleges, workplaces, and clinics; the District Mental Health Programme now covers 767 districts, and mental-health services have reached more than 183,000 community health centers.