**Executive Summary**
The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) was awarded the Gold Award at the 29th National Conference on e-Governance on July 1–2, 2026, for its ICMR-MINDS initiative. This project utilizes an AI-enabled platform to integrate mental health and substance use disorder management with non-communicable disease services. The initiative aims to standardize healthcare delivery by empowering frontline workers through a digital Clinical Decision Support System (CDSS) across seven participating Indian states.
**Key Points / Main Content**
**Award and Recognition**
* ICMR received the Gold Award under Category 2: "Innovation by Use of AI and Other New Age Technologies for Providing Citizen-Centric Services."
* The award was presented by the Union Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions at an event held in Jaipur, Rajasthan.
* The project is recognized as a National Health Research Priority initiative.
**Platform Features and Functionality**
* Utilizes a Clinical Decision Support System (CDSS) to facilitate task-shifting from specialists to trained non-specialist frontline providers.
* Provides standardized digital screening, assessment workflows, and role-based clinical guidance.
* Includes multilingual interfaces, offline functionality, and gamified features to maintain user engagement.
* Features real-time administrative dashboards for monitoring service delivery.
**Healthcare Delivery and System Efficiency**
* Implements a continuity-of-care framework supporting structured referral and bidirectional back-referral pathways.
* Enables stable patients to receive follow-up care at local facilities while specialists focus on complex cases.
* Aims to improve treatment adherence, reduce patient dropout, and decrease the burden on tertiary care centers.
**Implementation Scope**
* The project is active in seven states: Assam, Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, and Punjab.
* Key collaborating institutions include multiple AIIMS locations (Guwahati, New Delhi, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar), GIMH Ahmedabad, St. John’s Medical College, and PGIMER Chandigarh.
**Impact Analysis**
**Frontline Healthcare Workers**
* **Impact**: Empowered to deliver standardized mental health screening, assessment, and routine management, previously reserved for specialists.
* **Action Required**: Utilize the CDSS platform to conduct screenings and follow-up care according to evidence-based digital guidance.
**Medical Specialists and Tertiary Care Centres**
* **Impact**: Reduced clinical burden through task-shifting, allowing for optimized time allocation toward complex medical cases.
* **Action Required**: Manage complex referrals and engage in bidirectional back-referral pathways for stable patients.
**Patients**
* **Impact**: Improved access to affordable and high-quality mental healthcare at the nearest health facilities, resulting in better treatment adherence.
* **Action Required**: Engage with local healthcare providers for routine screening and follow-up care.
**State Health Departments and Collaborating Institutions**
* **Impact**: Enhanced integration of mental health services within existing health programs and access to data-driven monitoring tools.
* **Action Required**: Maintain collaboration with ICMR and ensure field teams and district health authorities are effectively implementing the initiative.
Key Entities Referenced
ICMR-MINDS: A flagship National Health Research Priority project that uses an AI-enabled digital platform to integrate mental healthcare into primary health services.
Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR): The primary agency responsible for the formulation and coordination of biomedical research in India and the developer of the MINDS platform.
Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG): The instituting body for the National Awards for e-Governance that recognized the ICMR-MINDS initiative for innovation in citizen-centric services.
Assam, Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, and Punjab: The seven Indian states where the ICMR-MINDS implementation research study is currently being executed through collaborating medical institutions.
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
ICMR wins Gold at National Awards for e-
Governance 2026
ICMR-MINDS receives DARPG honour for Al-enabled citizen-
centric healthcare innovation
Digital platform empowers frontline healthcare workers to
deliver standardised mental healthcare
प्रव तथ: 05 JUL 2026 12:43PM by PIB Delhi
The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)'s flagship initiative, ICMR-MINDS, a National Health
Research Priority project, has been conferred the Gold Award under Category 2 — Innovation by Use of
AI and Other New Age Technologies for Providing Citizen-Centric Services — at the National Awards for
e-Governance, instituted by the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG),
Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions.
The award was presented by Dr Jitendra Singh, Union Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances
& Pensions, in the presence of Col. Rajyavardhan Rathore, Minister for Information Technology and
Communication, Government of Rajasthan; Shri V. Srinivas, Chief Secretary, Government of Rajasthan;and Smt. Nivedita Shukla Verma, Secretary, DARPG and Department of Pension & Pensioners' Welfare,
Government of India. The presentation took place during the 29th National Conference on e-Governance
(NCeG) 2026, held in Jaipur, Rajasthan, on July 1–2, 2026.
ICMR-MINDS is an implementation research study on the integration of screening and management of
mental and substance use disorders with other non-communicable diseases. Its Clinical Decision Support
System (CDSS) enables task-shifting of standardised mental health screening, assessment, follow-up, and
routine management from specialists to trained non-specialist frontline healthcare providers, backed by
evidence-based digital decision support.
The platform offers standardised digital screening and assessment workflows, role-based clinical
guidance, offline functionality, multilingual interfaces, and gamified features to sustain user engagement,
alongside real-time administrative dashboards for monitoring service delivery and reducing dependence
on specialists. A key strength lies in its continuity-of-care framework, which supports structured referral
and bidirectional back-referral pathways — allowing stable patients to receive follow-up care at their
nearest health facility while specialists focus on complex cases. This optimises specialist time, empowers
frontline providers to deliver standardised mental healthcare, improves treatment adherence, eases the
burden on tertiary care centres, and reduces patient dropout across the continuum of care.
The initiative is being implemented across seven states through seven collaborating institutions: All India
Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Guwahati (Assam); Gujarat Institute of Mental Health (GIMH),
Ahmedabad (Gujarat); AIIMS, New Delhi (Haryana); St. John's Medical College, Bengaluru (Karnataka);
AIIMS, Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh); AIIMS, Bhubaneswar (Odisha); and Postgraduate Institute of Medical
Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh (Punjab).
Reacting to the recognition, Dr Rajiv Bahl, Secretary, Department of Health Research, and Director
General, ICMR, said, "ICMR will continue to pioneer data-driven, scalable technology interventions to
solve complex public health challenges. Through ongoing collaboration with participating institutions and
state health systems, ICMR remains committed to providing affordable, standardised, and high-quality
healthcare platforms for the people of India."
The success of ICMR-MINDS has been made possible through close collaboration with the State Health
Departments of Assam, Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, and Punjab, along with
State Mental Health and NCD Programme teams, district health authorities, Principal Investigators, Co-
Principal Investigators, healthcare professionals, and field teams across the participating states.
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SR/GS
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