During a pandemic year, mental health crises have received renewed focus across the world, including in India. And yet, the country has no data on the number of mental healthcare professionals.
“The data regarding the number of registered mental health professionals in the country including psychiatrists working in government and private sectors is not maintained centrally,” Ashwini Choubey, India’s junior minister for health and family welfare, said in the upper house of parliament on February 2.
“The data regarding the number of clinical psychologists in the country is not maintained centrally,” he added while responding to a question about the availability of mental health practitioners in India.
The World Health Organization, in 2019, had estimated that 7.5% of Indians were affected by mental health disorders. This number would likely go up significantly because of the pandemic.
Choubey did note that the government was working towards improving these…