Union Budget spotlight on mental health may push India Inc to act

Union Budget spotlight on mental health may push India Inc to act

• By Staff Writer

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s budget speech turning the spotlight on the issue is likely to give a push to India Inc to prioritize mental health for employees in a bigger way.

“It is heartening to see the government acknowledge the heavy toll that the Covid pandemic has had on the mental health of individuals,” Mohit Malhotra, CEO of Dabur India, told ET. “We see such initiatives now becoming commonplace across organizations.”

The finance minister on Tuesday announced the launch of a national tele-mental health program soon. “This will include a network of 23 tele-mental health centers of excellence with Nimhans (National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences) being the nodal center and International Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) Bangalore providing technical support,” she had said in the budget speech.

The long pandemic has compelled several companies to take up some measures to help employees and their families cope with the stress and other mental health issues. These include one-on-one counseling sessions with psychiatrists, webinars, round-the-clock helplines, peer group support, and grief counseling (especially during the second wave when many lost loved ones to Covid-19).

For example, GE has launched ‘It’s okay not to feel okay, a campaign to help employees break the psychological barriers, said Neerja Bhardwaj, executive HR business partner at GE India Technology Centre.

Officials across companies lauded the efforts of the government on mental health.

“The pandemic has brought mental wellbeing to the fore….it is an admirable effort (of the government) that will help people prioritize and get access to the right resources to enable positive mental wellbeing,” said Krishna Raghavan, chief people officer at Flipkart.

Lakshmi C, managing director and lead – human resources at Accenture in India, said, “This is a welcome step towards normalizing conversations around mental health and encouraging people to embrace mental wellbeing with dignity and compassion.”

Raman Kumar Singh, CHRO at ABB India, expects an increase in the number of holistic employee wellness programs as well as “deeper collaborations with holistic health experts”.

Mental health experts such as Pratima Murthy, director of Nimhans, and Samir Parikh, psychiatrist, and director of Fortis National Mental Health Program, Fortis Healthcare, said the government's initiative would help expand access to mental health care.

"There's a big hole in mental health treatment," Murthy said. "Some need little advice, listening, reassurance, guidance in the right direction."

Parikh said, “With mental health going digital, more and more companies are likely to invest in employee mental health. Also, more health care providers will get into mental healthcare services.”