A campaign called ‘Bridge the Care Gap’ has been lobbying political parties to commit to the implementation of the Mental Healthcare Act and the National Mental Health Policy
On April 2, Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, and other senior Congress leaders unveiled the party’s manifesto for the Lok Sabha elections. The Congress website crashed with a huge spike in traffic. Most analyses of the manifesto focused on the usual themes – the party’s universal basic income scheme NYAY, and its vision for jobs and farmers.
Not many noticed a clause in a section called "Samman" ("Dignity") in the manifesto document:
"Congress promises to implement the National Mental Health Policy, 2014 and the Mental Health Care Act, 2017 in letter and spirit. We will ensure that mental healthcare professionals are appointed in all public district hospitals and that mental healthcare services are provided in such hospitals."
On March 28, the CPI (M) manifesto had also pledged to implement the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act and the National Mental Health Care Act, "supported by adequate budgetary allocations".
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