1,451 calls attended to till mid-June: Chandigarh to High Court

Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, July 6

The UT Administration has told the Punjab and Haryana High Court that as many as 1,451 calls were attended to till mid-June for anxiety and mental health-related issues following the Covid outbreak.

61 migrant workers counselled, Bench told

The Bench of Chief Justice Rajiv Shanker Jha and Justice Arun Palli was told that 61 migrant workers were counselled by a mental health team.

The Bench of Chief Justice Rajiv Shanker Jha and Justice Arun Palli was also told that 61 migrant workers were counselled by a mental health team comprising a consultant psychiatrist and a clinical psychologist.

The Bench was hearing a PIL filed by advocate Sumati Jund against the UT and other respondents. She was seeking directions to the respondents to provide access to adequate and affordable mental healthcare services, promote pro-active mental health initiatives and undertake extensive training for mental healthcare by professionals to address mental health issues faced by the public during the crisis induced by Covid-19.

UT senior standing counsel Pankaj Jain, during the course of the hearing, told the Bench that psychiatric OPD services had to be temporarily suspended owing to Covid-19. But telemedicine services were available for all and every psychiatry-related issue. Taking up the PIL, the Bench asserted that the concerns raised by the petitioner were well-founded and her suggestions and inputs to combat the crisis were well-researched and for public good.

“However, in the given situation when the authorities are, as it is, faced with an unprecedented situation and task, and to the extent feasible, every possible measure is being taken to reach out to the masses to provide medical attention, it would rather be inexpedient to interfere with their thought process and implementation of various initiatives on the ground,” the Bench added.

Disposing of the petition, the Bench gave the petitioner the liberty to move the respondents with suggestions and inputs to help the authorities address the issue.