Push for grassroots mental healthcare gains momentum in Kashmir

Srinagar, May 22: In a major push towards decentralised mental healthcare and de-addiction services, five psychiatrists have been recruited under the District Mental Health Programme (DMHP) for five districts of Kashmir this month.

The move is part of measures initiated under the Narcotics Coordination (NCORD) mechanism to strengthen the de-addiction network across Jammu and Kashmir.

The psychiatrists have been appointed under the National Health Mission (NHM), with recruitment carried out on a district-specific basis. The districts covered under the latest appointments include Pulwama, Bandipora, Shopian, Anantnag and Baramulla.

Health officials and mental health experts said the development would help address the long-standing shortage of psychiatric specialists in peripheral districts, many of which had only a single psychiatrist handling outpatient consultations as well as emergency psychiatric cases.

The enhanced psychiatric workforce is also expected to improve the management of substance abuse and addiction-related cases at the district level. The administration has simultaneously expedited efforts to operationalise in-patient de-addiction facilities in district hospitals under the ongoing “Nasha Mukt J&K Abhiyaan.”

A senior official from the Health and Medical Education Department said the availability of additional psychiatrists would enable district hospitals to start short-stay admission facilities for patients requiring emergency psychiatric care or de-addiction treatment.

“Earlier, one psychiatrist could barely manage the OPD services,” the official said, adding that the administration has repeatedly stressed expanding treatment and rehabilitation facilities beyond major institutions such as IMHANS Kashmir and SKIMS Medical College Hospital Bemina.

During recent NCORD meetings chaired by Chief Secretary Atal Dulloo, emphasis was laid on strengthening rehabilitation mechanisms at the district level through operational drug de-addiction in-patient facilities in district hospitals.

Mental health services in Kashmir have traditionally remained concentrated in tertiary care institutions, resulting in delayed treatment, overcrowding and limited continuity of care. Experts believe decentralisation is critical as psychiatric illnesses and substance use disorders require long-term follow-up, counselling and community-based interventions.

Jammu and Kashmir currently has 20 Addiction Treatment Facilities — 11 in the Kashmir division and nine in the Jammu division. According to government data tabled in the Assembly earlier this year, around 32,500 drug abuse patients have been registered since 2022, while nearly 1.5 lakh consultations have been provided through these centres.

A majority of patients sought treatment at IMHANS Kashmir. Srinagar recorded around 6,100 registered patients, while Anantnag and Kulgam reported over 2,000 patients each. Government Medical College Jammu registered nearly 9,800 patients during the same period.