Mpower, Maha govt launch 24x7 free mental health helpline for lockdown period; Rohit Sharma, KJo & Aamir Khan laud move

NEW DELHI: Lockdown can be a difficult time for the people of the country. Earlier during the day, the Neerja Birla-led Mpower partnered with the government of Maharashtra and Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to launch a 24x7 helpline to address mental health concerns during Covid-19 pandemic.

In a statement, Mrs Birla said, "As the world battles one of its biggest health crisis, where physical health is of utmost importance, mental well-being can often be neglected as an outcome of prolonged isolation and ongoing uncertainty. In these trying times, it is natural for us to feel anxious and stressed and now more than ever we need to be more mindful and take care of our mental health. With BMC-Mpower 1on1 helpline, we aim to increase awareness about mental health and make it more accessible to the citizens of Maharashtra."



The service will be available for free to the people of Maharashtra, where they can speak with trained mental health counsellors, clinical psychologists and psychiatrists of Mpower. Counselling will also be available in three languages - Marathi, Hindi and English.


The Maharashtra government will mobilise support by using its available infrastructure, communication channels and social media platforms.

The entire film fraternity and sports stars got together to laud the the Maharashtra government and mental well-being organisation for their efforts in the cause.

B-town celebrities took to Twitter to appreciate the launch of this 'much-needed initiative'.

Film-maker Karan Johar called it an extremely essential and much-required initiative.


While Anil Kapoor stressed people are not alone in feeling whatever they are feeling, actor Rahul Bose vouched for the great work done by Mpower.


Actors like Aamir Khan, Hrithik Roshan, Twinkle Khanna, Abhishek Bachchan and Farhan Akhtar posted the picture of the helpline number.





Team India cricketers Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane highlighted the importance of mental health in times of distress like these, and shared the helpline number.



The country has been on lockdown since March 24 and people have been at home including these personalities.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday spoke to eminent sports personalities that included the likes of BCCI President Sourav Ganguly, Indian cricket captain Virat Kohli, cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar, badminton world champion P.V. Sindhu and chess legend Viswanathan Anand as the country fights the coronavirus pandemic.

The sports personalities have been already doing their bit as they have not only donated funds to help fight the pandemic, but have also spread awareness messages on their social media platforms.

Maharashtra is one of the worst-affected states in the novel coronavirus with 360 active cases and 21 deaths, according to a report by PTI.