“The goal of this initiative is to reassure people that there is very little time between the thought of suicide and taking the step,” said Prof. Shobha Chakrabarty of the PGI Chandigarh Psychiatry Department.

Counsellors are taught to listen to callers with empathy and compassion and without passing judgement during its five courses. The caller is sent to a mental health facility and, if necessary, is put in touch with a psychologist or psychiatrist.

Assistance is offered in 20 languages.

For individuals who phone Tele-Manas, a response is available in 20 languages, including Hindi, English, Punjabi, Tamil, and Assamese, according to Dr Rahul Chakrabarty of the PGI Psychiatry Department. Callers receive reassurance, have their issues acknowledged, and, if necessary, are put through to a professional.

Experiencing psychological strain as a result of disappointment

When it comes to mental health, people are hesitant. Anxiety about tests and disappointment lead to mental stress, particularly for students. In these situations, Tele-Manas gives people a secure forum where they can freely discuss their issues.

Many times, people are often unaware that they have a mental disease. A survey conducted in 2016–17 found that between 70 and 80 per cent of psychiatric patients nationwide…

The disappearance of a nursing student from the Nursing Institute of Nursing Education (NINE) dormitory at PGI Chandigarh has exposed serious incompetence. The PGI Contract Workers Union’s Joint Action Committee Chairman, Ashwini Kumar Munjal, made this accusation.

According to him, the PGI administration acknowledged in the material requested under the Right to Information (RTI) Act that the CCTV cameras at NINE’s main gate were malfunctioning; hence, there is no video accessible. According to Munjal, a nursing student went missing on the night of July 22–23, 2025, after scaling the hostel wall and returned the next day between 10 and 11 AM after being missing all night. He had filed an RTI to obtain copies of the CCTV footage and the complaint in this regard, but the administration denied his request, claiming that the cameras were malfunctioning.

No answer on hostel campus footage.

Chairman Ashwini Kumar Munjal remarked that the PGI management simply stated that “the main gate’s CCTV camera was out of order.” However, no answer was given regarding the footage from the cameras installed inside the hostel campus. This raises serious questions as to why the cameras at such a sensitive location were out of order. There is also a suspicion that the information is being withheld to hide important evidence.