It’s an effort that is far-reaching, in terms of access, social equity and specialist care and support to people in need of psychiatric care and treatment. The Tele-Psychiatry Services at PGIMER, Chandigarh, were initiated in 2018 to enhance accessibility to mental health care across diverse regions.

During the COVID-19 pandemic (2020–2022), these services were significantly scaled up, serving as the sole mode of outpatient psychiatric care and ensuring continuity of treatment when routine OPDs were suspended. The service received over 13,000 tele-psychiatry calls in 2020, 24,800 calls in 2021, and approximately 5,000 calls in 2022, when the OPDs were resumed. In addition, more than 3,000 detailed evaluations and walk-in consultations were conducted annually via videoconferencing during

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