MPower to support Nimhans for Tele MANAS initiative

MPower, an initiative of the Aditya Birla Education Trust, has signed an MoU with Nimhans on supporting them in implementing the national Tele MANAS programme.

Tele MANAS is a virtual mental health programme launched by the central government in October, with the support of Nimhans and IIIT-B. The programme, which offers free services, is supposed to have centres across India.

As per the MoU, MPower will set up Tele MANAS centres wherever required, in the PPP model. “If there is a shortage in a specific region, Nimhans will inform us of that requirement. As per the MoU, Nimhans and the Union government will then recommend us to the state government for setting up the centre. This is because state government’s consent will be required as health is a state subject,” said MPower founder Dr Neerja Birla.

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As of now, there is no decision about the number of centres or personnel that MPower will be deploying. MPower already runs its own mental health services and helpline, with 140 counsellors deployed across seven cities. “Tele MANAS centres have specific requirements in terms of physical infrastructure and personnel. So we will be setting up new centres and training a separate set of people to meet these requirements,” Dr Birla said.

NIMHANS Director Dr Pratima Murthy said, “Our goal is to make sure that the Tele MANAS services are accessible to all, and in this journey, we are happy to look at Public Private Partnerships with strong knowledge of the space. At Tele MANAS we have a framework, and we look forward to Mpower expanding this programme in various states.”