CM Fadnavis meets Neerja Birla on World Mental Health Day
Synopsis
On World Mental Health Day 2026, ABET Founder Neerja Birla met Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis in Mumbai to present MPower's mental health awareness work, anchored by this year's theme: 'Lived experiences heard: real voices, real change.'
Key Takeaways
Neerja Birla , Founder and Chairperson of the Aditya Birla Education Trust (ABET) , met CM Devendra Fadnavis in Mumbai on 10 October 2026 .
The meeting was held on the occasion of World Mental Health Day 2026 .
Birla briefed the Chief Minister on the mental health awareness initiatives of her organisation MPower .
This year's World Mental Health Day theme is 'Lived experiences heard: real voices, real change.' MPower operates under the Aditya Birla Education Trust and focuses on counselling access, awareness, and destigmatisation of mental illness.
On World Mental Health Day, 10 October 2026, a conversation about India's quiet mental health crisis reached the highest office in Maharashtra. Neerja Birla, Founder and Chairperson of the Aditya Birla Education Trust (ABET), called on Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis in Mumbai, bringing with her the work and data of her organisation MPower — one of India's most prominent mental health advocacy platforms.
The meeting centred on MPower's initiatives in mental health awareness, timed deliberately to coincide with this year's global observance. The theme for World Mental Health Day 2026 — 'Lived experiences heard: real voices, real change' — frames the conversation around amplifying the testimonies of those who have navigated mental illness firsthand, shifting the discourse from clinical abstraction to human reality. Neerja Birla briefed CM Fadnavis on the programmes MPower runs across awareness, counselling access, and destigmatisation, discussing how the organisation's work aligns with broader public health goals in Maharashtra.MPower's role in Maharashtra's mental health conversation
MPower, launched under the Aditya Birla Education Trust, has positioned itself as a bridge between institutional mental health care and community-level awareness in India. The organisation operates counselling centres, runs school and workplace mental health programmes, and advocates for policy-level recognition of psychological well-being as a public health priority. Neerja Birla has been its most visible face, using her platform to push mental health out of drawing-room whispers and into mainstream policy dialogue. Maharashtra, as India's most urbanised and economically pressured state, faces a disproportionate mental health burden — from the stress corridors of Mumbai's financial districts to agrarian distress in the Vidarbha belt. A meeting between a prominent mental health advocate and the state's Chief Minister, on the one day the world focuses on this issue, signals at least an intent to keep the subject on the government's agenda.A theme built around lived testimony
This year's World Mental Health Day theme — 'Lived experiences heard: real voices, real change' — carries a pointed message: that policy without the perspective of those who have actually experienced mental illness risks missing the mark entirely. It is a call for governments and institutions to move beyond statistics and listen to survivors, caregivers, and communities. The choice of theme gives Neerja Birla's outreach to CM Fadnavis added resonance — it is not just a courtesy call, but an argument for a particular kind of governance: one that centres lived experience in its design of mental health services. Whether today's discussion translates into concrete state-level commitments remains to be watched — but the conversation has been had, at the right level, on the right day.Point of View
Moving away from purely clinical metrics toward community-led testimony. Whether Maharashtra converts this goodwill meeting into programme funding or policy commitments will be the real measure of today's conversation.
NationPress
11 Oct 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Neerja Birla and what is MPower?
Neerja Birla is the Founder and Chairperson of the Aditya Birla Education Trust (ABET). MPower is her mental health initiative that works on awareness, counselling access, and destigmatisation of mental illness across India.
Why did Neerja Birla meet CM Devendra Fadnavis?
She met CM Fadnavis on World Mental Health Day 2026 to share and discuss the mental health awareness programmes run by her organisation MPower, and to engage the Maharashtra government on the issue.
What is the theme of World Mental Health Day 2026?
The theme for World Mental Health Day 2026 is 'Lived experiences heard: real voices, real change,' which emphasises amplifying the voices of people who have personally experienced mental illness.
What does the Aditya Birla Education Trust do?
The Aditya Birla Education Trust (ABET) is a philanthropic organisation that supports education and mental health initiatives in India, including through the MPower platform.
When and where did the meeting between Neerja Birla and CM Fadnavis take place?
The meeting took place on 10 October 2026 in Mumbai, coinciding with World Mental Health Day.
