NDRF Wives Welfare Association and Mpower Launch Mental Health Support Initiative for NDRF Personnel and Families
Mrs Neerja Birla Founder and Chairperson Aditya Birla Education Trust along with Mrs Priti Anand NWWA President and Mr Piyush Anand DG NDRF at the Mou signing.
The NDRF Wives Welfare Association (NWWA) and Mpower have signed an MoU to launch ‘Project Nirmal’, a mental health and psychosocial support program for National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) personnel and their families.
NDRF personnel face tremendous amounts of occupational stress due to the nature of their services, involving sudden deployments to disaster zones and rescue operations.
Project Nirmal strives to address the metal health issues arising out of such demanding duty conditions and the stigma associated with mental health issues.
The program will include mental health awareness sessions, routine psychological evaluations, individual and group counselling, tele-counselling, crisis management and suicide prevention support.
A dedicated 24/7 helpline, staffed by mental health professionals, will provide assistance to NDRF personnel and their family members in multiple languages.
The program will be implemented nationally with its services available in every corner of the country through regional, hub-based teams.
Project Nirmal is not just meant to provide mental health support to the personnel in the service, but also to their families who face equally challenging situations due to the nature of the job.
Smt. Priti Anand, President, NWWA emphasized that “prioritizing the emotional well-being of rescuers and their families is essential for maintaining force morale, readiness, and overall response effectiveness”.
Speaking about the initiative, Mrs. Neerja Birla, Founder and Chairperson, Aditya Birla Education Trust, Mpower said: “We deeply appreciate the NDRF for recognising that mental well-being is integral to the strength of the response system itself. Through Project Nirmal, Mpower is taking a pioneering step with The NDRF Wives Welfare Association to extend structured mental-health support to frontline workers and the NDRF families. This partnership marks the beginning of a pan- India vision for Mpower to work towards systematically institutionalising mental-health care and building integrated mental-health support systems for those who are serving the nation around the clock.”
