Thiruvananthapuram | Violence and suicides are on the rise among the youth in Kerala and the government has taken several measures, including carrying out various studies, towards strengthening the mental health of the younger generation, State Youth Affairs Minister Saji Cherian told the Assembly on Wednesday.
Cherian said that studies were carried out regarding the mental health of people in the 18-40 years age group across the state, including at workplaces, and reports of the findings were tabled before the government.
The minister said that drugs have a major role in weakening the mental and physical health of the youth and the government initiated the 'No to Drugs' campaign against that.
He was responding to queries raised in the question hour by Congress-led UDF MLAs about steps taken to address the issue of rising mental health problems and suicidal tendencies among the youth.
The UDF MLAs also highlighted the lack of proper employment as well as the display of drug use and violence in movies as the other factors contributing to the weakening of the mental health of the youth.
They also suggested availing the services of clinical psychologists by the Youth Commission for those who cannot afford the same.
Cherian accepted the opposition suggestions and assured to take them into consideration.
Regarding the role of movies, he said that the government cannot interfere with the content of the films, but has brought complaints about them before the Censor Board.
He further said that he recently joined a meeting of film sector representatives and "they in-principle agreed to discourage movies showing drug use and violence".
"As part of that, a decision was taken to prevent the showing of drug use, violence, etc in movies and take steps to regulate screening of such films on OTT platforms. In furtherance of that, the issue has been brought to the attention of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and the Censor Board," Cherian said.
He also said he would submit a proposal before the government for availing the services of clinical psychologists to help the youth having mental health issues.
