- Founder-President interacts with volunteers at Spandana event
- People in distress may call Helpline 0821 – 2418400
Mysore/Mysuru: ‘Spandana’ programme of Mysuru Police Helpline was held in city recently in the presence of its Founder-President Dr. C. Chandrashekar, a retired IPS Officer.
Mysuru Police Helpline was started in the year 2000 by the then City Police Commissioner Dr. C. Chandrashekar, when the city witnessed 3 adolescents committing suicide in a span of 1 month. One of the three was a school girl studying in 9th std. and was unable to cope up with age-related adolescent stress.
About 30 volunteers came together to setup a Counselling Centre under the aegis of Mysuru City Police Department.
A Committee was constituted with the City Police Commissioner as the President and Dr. S.N. Mothi of Asha Kirana Charitable Trust, Hospital & Research Centre, Mysuru, as Vice-President. The Executive Committee comprised Secretary, Treasurer and 6 Committee Members.
The volunteers who enrolled into this initiative are from different walks of life like doctors, advocates, retired Bank Managers, Ex-Army Officers, scientists and spouses. Periodic training on counselling skills was provided to the volunteers to improve the strategies and approach to the grieving clients.
There is always a need for additional training programme to further improvise skills in counselling. Either one or two volunteers conduct a slot of 3-hour sessions. Three such sessions per day are conducted 7 days a week between 10 am and 8 pm.
Detailed documenting of the demographics of the clients and the types of problems has been maintained since the beginning.
So far, Mysuru Police Helpline has addressed over 46,341 cases. Inflow of clients is referred by network of Police Stations and some of them are direct walk-in clients. It has 70% solvency rate.
Ashok, Inspector at Mahila Police Station, said that this Helpline decreases the burden of cases which can be solved just by listening to the case for a few sessions.
Dr. Chandrashekar, who raised concerns about the drug menace in city during the interaction, said he felt gratifying to see Mysuru Police Helpline complete 26 years.
This is a standalone non-political, non-religious, self-funded voluntary organisation providing service free of cost. The issues related to dowry harassment, sexual harassment, marital discord, depression, drug addiction, suicidal tendencies, poverty, milder forms of mental illness, financial instability, family disputes, disputes with neighbours and other cases are addressed at this Helpline.
About 12% of the total cases were potential suicide cases — potential suicide case is defined as any person having suicidal thoughts, intents, attempts since past 7 days or more. Any unbearable frustration cases can be potential suicide cases if the issues are not addressed on time.
In WHO Mental Health Action Plan 2013-2020, WHO Member States committed themselves to working towards the global target of reducing suicide rate in countries by 10%.
The Mysuru Police Helpline has been strategically articulating with WHO’s response on suicide prevention. It is a comprehensive multisectoral suicide prevention strategy at the community-level as per the requirements specified by WHO.
This Mysuru model can be extrapolated to all districts of the State and other States of India. This is also cost-effective in nature. The volunteers work with a zeal and commitment once experienced with satisfying outcomes. This model not only helps in suicide prevention as part of their programme but also addresses marital issues, violence, abuse, loss and a sense of isolation.
The Police Helpline Office located near Lashkar Police Station in city is open round-the-clock and the Helpline number is 0821 – 2418400.
This post was published on March 31, 2026 6:40 pm