The National Mental Health Programme was launched in 1982 in India to improve access to mental healthcare. It aimed to integrate mental health services into primary healthcare and increase community involvement in mental health. The key objectives were to make minimum mental healthcare accessible to all, especially vulnerable groups, and apply mental health knowledge to general health services. It adopted a two-pronged strategy of establishing psychiatric units in district hospitals while also training health workers in basic mental health skills. The programme underwent changes and expansion over time, including launching the District Mental Health Programme to provide basic mental health services at the community level.