Increase the number of seats in psychiatry, psychology courses: MP urges in Parliament

BJP Rajya Sabha member KC Ramamurthy has urged the Central government to increase the number of seats in psychiatry and psychology courses in medical colleges.

During the zero hours of the Parliament session, BJP Rajya Sabha member KC Ramamurthy has brought the Central government's attention to the need to make psychiatric services widely available in the country by increasing the number of qualified psychiatrists. He urged the government to increase the number of seats in psychology and psychiatry in medical colleges at various levels of study. He also said that the psychiatrists' services must be provided at district levels and also in important hospitals.

He pointed out that as per the National Mental Health Survey, nearly 160 million people in India need mental therapy but in reality, only 30-35 million are seeking professional advice to take care of their mental health. He also pointed out that for a 1 lakh population, there are only 0.75% psychiatrists available in India but ideally there should be three psychiatrists per one lakh people.

He also added that as per the Government of India estimate, India has just 3,500 psychiatrists when it needs nearly 13,000 psychiatrists. The requirement is for 20,000 clinical psychologists but there are only a little more than 1,500 available. India needs 35,000 psychiatric social workers but the country has only 2,000 and against the requirement of 30,000 psychiatric nurses, the country has only 2,500 available nurses.

KC Ramamurthy tweet reads, "During the Zero Hour at the Parliament, I raised the concerned over "Need to pay more attention to psychiatric disorders."

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