ICMR-MINDS Wins Gold at National e-Governance Awards 2026 for AI-Powered Mental Healthcare Platform

The National Awards for e-Governance 2026 presented to The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) the Gold Award in the category “Innovation through the Use of AI and Other New Age Technologies to Deliver Citizen-Centric Services” for their award-winning AI-powered mental health management platform called ICMR-MINDS which uses AI technology to improve the delivery of public health services in India, making mental health services available to all citizens of India, and providing qualified frontline health care workers with data-driven digital tools.

Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) Gold Award

As the leading digital mental health initiative, ICMR-MINDS was awarded a Gold Award from the National Awards for e-Governance 2026.

The Gold Award recognizes ICMR-MINDS for its innovative use of Artificial Intelligence (AI), to provide reliable, incorporated, and citizen-centered mental health services throughout India.

The award presentation took place on July 1–2, 2026, during the 29th National Conference on e-Governance (NCeG) hosted in Jaipur, Rajasthan.

Union Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances, and Pensions, Dr. Jitendra Singh recognized the accomplishments of the ICMR-MINDS by presenting them their award.

About ICMR-MINDS

ICMR-MINDS is an initiative by the Indian Council of Medical Research that aims to develop a national health research priority project for improving the quality of mental health care and services in India.

This initiative aims to integrate the management of non-communicable diseases (NCD) with provision of mental health services and to use primary care services to make mental health services more accessible by providing trained female and male health workers with standardised evidence-based mental health care services.

The primary goal is reduce the reliance on specialists in the field of mental health by providing the tools for trained primary care workers to deliver standardised evidence-based mental health care.

AI Based Clinical Decision Support System

This platform is built on an AI powered Clinical Decision Support System (CDSS) which has been developed as a support tool for health care workers by providing them with,

• Standardised mental health screening tools
• Clinical assessment tools
• Evidence based treatment recommendations
• Guidelines for follow-up care
• Protocols for routine management of patients

This digital decision support tool will provide consistency of care; especially in those areas where access to specialist psychiatrists and psychologists is limited.

Key Features of ICMR-MINDS

This platform incorporates the several advanced digital capabilities which are designed to improve healthcare delivery.

• AI-Based Clinical Guidance
• Standardized Digital Screening
• Multilingual Interface
• Offline Functionality
• Gamified User Experience
• Real-Time Administrative Dashboards

Participating Universities In The Initiative

• AIIMS Guwahati – Assam
• Gujarat Institute of Mental Health, Ahmedabad
• AIIMS New Delhi – Haryana
• St. John’s Medical College – Bengaluru, Karnataka
• AIIMS Bhopal – Madhyapradesh
• AIIMS Bhubaneswar – Odisha
• PGIMER Chandigarh – Punjab

The implementation of the program is undertaken in partnership with state government, healthcare professionals, district health authorities, and mental health program teams.

About National E-Governance Awards

The National E-Governance Awards are e-governance excellence awarded by the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG), within the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions of India.

Through the use of digital technology, innovative processes, and through citizen-centered services and solutions, the e-governance awards recognize excellent digital government initiatives that have transformed the manner in which public services are provided.