Abstract
Despite its relevance to sustainable development, mental health continues to be one of the most neglected areas of public service in India, even in its most developed states like Kerala. Advocacy services in mental health are also not adequately available to those in need. This call to action paper argues for a collaborative advocacy-through-action model of mental health advocacy for Kerala, with people’s participation as an important component. Kerala is chosen as the candidate for such a model because of its successful experience in implementing participatory development programmes. The proposed advocacy model can be extended to the whole country based on the feedback received from an initial implementation.