29. Promotion of mental health and preventive programmes.—(1) The appropriate Government
shall have a duty to plan, design and implement programmes for the promotion of mental health and
prevention of mental illness in the country.
(2) Without prejudice to the generality of the provisions contained in sub-section (1), the appropriate
Government shall, in particular, plan, design and implement public health programmes to reduce
suicides and attempted suicides in the country.
30. Creating awareness about mental health and illness and reducing stigma associated with
mental illness.—The appropriate Government shall take all measures to ensure that,—
(a) the provisions of this Act are given wide publicity through public media, including television,
radio, print and online media at regular intervals;
(b) the programmes to reduce stigma associated with mental illness are planned, designed, funded
and implemented in an effective manner;
(c) the appropriate Government officials including police officers and other officers of the
appropriate Government are given periodic sensitisation and awareness training on the issues under
this Act.
31. Appropriate Government to take measures as regard to human resource development and
training, etc.—(1) The appropriate Government shall take measures to address the human resource
requirements of mental health services in the country by planning, developing and implementing
educational and training programmes in collaboration with institutions of higher education and training,
to increase the human resources available to deliver mental health interventions and to improve the
skills of the available human resources to better address the needs of persons with mental illness.
(2) The appropriate Government shall, at the minimum, train all medical officers in public healthcare
establishments and all medical officers in the prisons or jails to provide basic and emergency mental
healthcare.
(3) The appropriate Government shall make efforts to meet internationally accepted guidelines for
number of mental health professionals on the basis of population, within ten years from the
commencement of this Act.
32. Co-ordination within appropriate Government.—The appropriate Government shall take all
measures to ensure effective co-ordination between services provided by concerned Ministries and
Departments such as those dealing with health, law, home affairs, human resources, social justice,
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employment, education, women and child development, medical education to address issues of mental
health care.