Project Nirmal launched for mental health of NDRF personnel and their families

A new initiative, 'Project Nirmal', has been launched to look after the mental health of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) personnel and their families. The NDRF Wives Welfare Association (NWWA) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Empower for the purpose. Empower is a pan-India mental health service provider started by Smt Neerja Birla under the Aditya Birla Education Trust (ABET).

The initiative, designed under the name Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS), is meant for NDRF personnel and their families across the country. NDRF rescuers face heavy stress during disasters, along with physical challenges and sudden deployments. In view of this, the partnership aims to manage occupational stress and remove the stigma around mental health in society.

Project Nirmal will include awareness sessions on mental health and regular mental health screening. It will also cover individual and group counselling, tele-counselling, crisis intervention, suicide prevention and necessary support. It is a complete care system that will run continuously.

To extend its reach across India, hub-based teams will be set up in key regional centres. There will also be a 24/7 multilingual helpline run by mental health experts, giving personnel and their family members round-the-clock guidance.

NWWA President Smt Preeti Anand said, "Prioritising the emotional well-being of rescuers and their families is essential to sustaining the force's morale, preparedness and the overall effectiveness of the response."

Smt Neerja Birla, founder and chairperson of the Aditya Birla Education Trust and Empower, said of the initiative, "We deeply appreciate the NDRF for recognising that mental health is an integral part of the strength of the response system. Through Project Nirmal, Empower, together with the NDRF Wives Welfare Association, is taking an important step towards providing structured mental health support to frontline personnel and NDRF families."

She added that the collaboration marks the beginning of Empower's nationwide vision. Through it, work is under way to systematically institutionalise mental health care for those who serve the country around the clock and to build an integrated mental health support system.

Empower has wide experience of working with India's uniformed and frontline services, including the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and police forces across Maharashtra. It also has experience in providing mental health counselling and psychosocial support in high-stress environments.

Through long-term initiatives such as 'Project Mann' with the CISF, Empower has developed an institutional approach that brings together awareness, early identification, counselling, capacity building and access to professional help. This experience has shown that mental health support should not be limited to immediate relief in times of crisis, but should become an integral and lasting part of the support ecosystem for personnel.

Based on this experience, Empower's Project Nirmal is the first step in its pan-India approach to systematically strengthening the mental health of frontline workers, who play an important role in protecting society and the country, and of their families.