Principal Scientific Advisor K VijayRaghavan has launched a mobile app to promote mental wellbeing across age groups, his office said on Wednesday. The app, MANAS, which stands for Mental Health and Normalcy Augmentation System, is a comprehensive, scalable, and national digital wellbeing platform, it said. According to the principal scientific advisor’s office, the app has been developed to augment the mental well-being of Indian citizens. MANAS integrates various government ministries’ health and wellness efforts, scientifically validated indigenous tools with gamified interfaces developed and researched by various national bodies and research institutions.
“MANAS was initiated by the Office of the Principal Scientific Advisor to the Government of India. It was jointly executed by NIMHANS Bengaluru, AFMC (Armed Forces Medical College), Pune, and C-DAC (Centre for Development of Advanced Computing) Bengaluru,” VijayRaghavan’s office said.
While launching MANAS, VijayRaghavan said, “The app must be integrated with public health schemes like National Health Mission, Poshan Abhiyan, e-Sanjeevani, and others so that it is used widely. Besides, the application must be made multilingual.”
Lieutenant General Madhuri Kanitkar, a member of PM-STIAC (Prime Minister’s Science, Technology, and Innovation Advisory Council), highlighted that MANAS is based on life skills and core psychological processes.
The initial version of MANAS focuses on promoting positive mental health in 15-35, she said.