Today is September 5, the birthday of Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, celebrated across the country annually as Teachers’ Day. Few in the country will recall that today is also the second death anniversary of Keshav Desiraju (1955-2021), the grandson of Dr Radhakrishnan. Keshav suffered a massive acute coronary syndrome early morning on September 5, 2021, and was wheeled to Kauvery Hospital, Chennai. Keshav went to the other world without giving doctors and his well-wishers a chance.
Who Was Keshav?
Humble to the core, multifaceted Keshav held a Master’s degree in Economics from the University of Cambridge and a Master’s degree in public administration from the John F. Kennedy School of Governance, Harvard University and at the time of his death was Chairperson of the Governing Board of Population Foundation of India (PFI). An avid reader, researcher and author, Keshav’s foremost books were Of Gifted Voice: The Life and Art of MS Subbulakshmi (2020) and Healers or Predators? Healthcare Corruption in India, the later written with S Nundy and Sanjay Nagral.
By vocation, Keshav was a career bureaucrat belonging to the 1978 batch of Indian Administrative Service (IAS) of Uttar Pradesh cadre (later Uttarakhand) and had myriad accomplishments during his professional life. When Keshav died, obituaries and eulogies poured in from people across all walks of life, including from eminent historian Ram Guha. Yours truly, too, knew Keshav for nearly 15 years (from his days as Additional Chief Secretary at Dehradun) and chipped in with my own version of obituary.
What Made Keshav So Special?
Keshav was special in many ways and has left his footprint in many areas of governance, but his tallest contributions were in the field of public health in general, and mental health in particular. He is accredited with singlehanded heavy lifting with his complete devotion and lesser focused attention, thereby bringing the Gestalt of “Mental Health” in the country from the “complete darkness of black hole” to the nation’s centre stage.
Amongst many stellar contributions of Keshav to the public health arena, the one’s which stands tallest is India’s maiden National Mental Health Policy (2014) and India’s own Next Practices (words borrowed from Coimbatore Krishnarao Prahalad, world’s greatest management thinker next only to Peter F. Drucker), Mental health Care Bill, 2013 that was unanimously passed by both Houses of Parliament as Mental Health Care Act, 2017 (MCHA, 2017).
It is the travesty of the nation, that merely after 11 months at the helm of Secretary, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India, Keshav was shifted out controversially because he would not be party to some governmental decision that pricked his conscience. But Keshav, before being booted out, achieved what he had set out to achieve in 2010 as Additional Secretary, and later and Secretary MOH&FW. He gave what India the needed most — MCHA, 2017.
I once asked him what he would like to be most remembered for. And Keshav’s humbling answer at once was “Mental Health Policy, 2014 and Mental Health Care Act, 2017”.
Post-retirement, Keshav continued to work with missionary zeal in the field of mental health, including as member of the governing board of many NGOs, most notably The Banyan, Chennai. Even in retirement, Keshav was brought back by the MOH&FW to head the committee that framed “rules and regulations” for the Mental Health Care Act, 2017.
Floundered at Implementation
Today, I remember Keshav more than ever and with profound sadness because his babies, National Mental Health Policy, 2013 and Mental Health Care Act, 2017, have not only been slow to take off, but the truth is they have floundered at implementation, having suffered from the “implementation bug”. Alas! There was only one Keshav Desiraju and the lamp that he lit is in serious trouble of being snuffed out of life fast.
Time to Make Legacy of Keshav Desiraju Permanent
Some spirited individuals and institutions are trying their best to keep the flame that Keshav lit burning and to keep his legacy in the mental health arena alive. Two such institutions are The Banyan, Chennai (turbocharged by inimitable Vandana Gopikumar) and Centre for Mental Health Law & Policy, ILS, Pune (and its director Soumitra Pathare). But nation as a whole, including the governance structure of Centre and states, have largely forgotten Keshav and his contribution.
The Mental Health Fire in the Belly of Keshav
The Indian nation is largely unaware as to when and where Keshav Desiraju for the first time publicly took a vow to change the life and times of the mentally-ill in India. As it happened, in many Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities of India, August 6, 2010 was observed as India’s first unofficial Mental Health Awareness Day and the week of August 6-13 as Mental Health Awareness Week. Though the clarion call was given by this author through a one-page signed letter, the successful observance of India’s first Mental Health Awareness Week was in true sense turbo-charged by Vandana Gopikumar and Vaishnavi Jayakumar, co-founders of The Banyan.
As it happened, on August 7, 2010, at The Convention Centre of All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS) New Delhi, where I had instigated the National Conference titled ‘Bringing the Gestalt of Mental Health to National Mainstream’, I wanted Keshav (then Additional Secretary, MOH&FW) to give the keynote address. Unwilling though he was, he came, and before his keynote address, I presented to him my now famous “13-posers as to what government was doing to tame the cancer of mental illness in India”.
Keshav humbled the 150-strong audience with his honest admission. “Today, I do not have an answer to any of the 13 questions, but I promise to work honestly to find answers to these questions during my tenure at MOH&FW.”
And what Keshav did between 2010 and 2014, only he could do, and it has no parallel in the world.
How Can We Make the Legacy of Keshav Permanent
Our real tribute to Keshav will be for the Government of India to declare the Month of August as India’s official ‘Mental Health Awareness Month’ and August 6 or 7 as Mental Health Awareness Day. And there is a reason for this clarion call. August 6 was the day in 2021 when, in Erwadi Dargah in Ramnathapuram district of Tamil Nadu, 29 chained mentally ill men, women and children were burnt alive.
Make August 6 India’s Mental Health Awareness Day
The world observes October 10 as Mental Health Awareness Day and October as Mental Health Awareness Month. But when it comes to India, that does not resonate. August 6, the Erwadi Memorial Day, deserves to be India’s Mental Health Awareness Day and August the Mental Health Awareness Month. It will also be justice to the missionary zeal of Keshav Desiraju, who on the eve of Erwadi Memorial Day, 2010, took the public vow to bring mental health to the national mainstream.
Taking the Cue from Barack Obama
The Proclamation 9112—National Mental Health Awareness Month, 2014 by then US President Barrack Obama said: “Despite great strides in our understanding of mental illness and vast improvements in the dialogue surrounding it, too many still suffer in silence. Tens of millions of Americans face mental health conditions like depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, or post-traumatic stress disorder. During National Mental Health Awareness Month, we reaffirm our commitment to building our understanding of mental illness, increasing access to treatment, and ensuring those who are struggling to know they are not alone… We too often think about mental health differently from other forms of health. Yet like any disease, mental illnesses can be treated—and without help, they can grow worse. That is why we must build an open dialogue that encourages support and respect for those struggling with mental illness.”
“Now, Therefore, I, Barack Obama, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim May 2014 as National Mental Health Awareness Month. I call upon citizens, government agencies, organizations, health care providers, and research institutions to raise mental health awareness and continue helping Americans live longer, healthier lives,” he continued.
An Appeal to PM Modi
Honourable Prime Minister Modi, please give a clarion call, which only you can give, for the nation to observe August 6 as India’s National Mental Health Awareness Day and August as National Mental Health Awareness Month. It will be a tribute to Erwadi Martyrs. It will also be everlasting tribute to the memory of Keshav Desiraju.
Akhileshwar Sahay is a Multidisciplinary Thought Leader with Action Bias, India based International Impact Consultant. He works as President Advisory Services of consulting company BARSYL. Sahay along with Keshav Desiraju was part of the 11-member Government of India Mental Health Policy Group (2011-2014). He also was a member of the first Central Mental Health Authority (CMHA) from 2019 to 2021. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18’s views.
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