The other partners in the collaboration are Tata Institute of Social Sciences, The Banyan (a mental health NGO) and The Banyan Academy of Leadership in Mental Health.
Include (India Netherlands Collaboration on Mental Health Innovations in Under-served Settings) aims to test and apply solutions to address challenges in mental health with a specific focus on most marginalised people in the society. The network comprises two PhD programmes — one at ILS and one at TISS — and two social action research laboratories, the Mental Health Social Action Lab (MH-SAL) at The Banyan/Balm in Chennai and the Law and Policy Action Lab (LP-LAB) at ILS.
“The minimum required qualification to apply for the programme is a master’s degree in law, sociology or science. After the proposal is accepted by the society, a guide will be assigned. The students will stay here and do the research work. But for the last three months of the research, the student will go to VU and the entire cost for stay and research will be borne by VU. The PhD degree will also be awarded by the same university,” said Vaijayanti Joshi, honorary secretary, ILS and also principal, ILS Law College.
The programme will be formally inaugurated on Sunday at ILS in the presence of Keshav Desiraju, special secretary, Ministry of Health and family Welfare, Raosaheb Shinde, president, ILS, Dr Parasuram, director TISS, Dr Rene Smit, president, VU University and Dr Joske Bunders, director, Athena Institute, VU and founders of The Banyan.
The ILS had in 2008 launched the first-ever one-year International Diploma in Mental Health Law & Human Rights based on materials and tools developed by the World Health Organisation. “This will be a good opportunity for students especially when Right to Healthcare Bill is coming up and even insurance companies are warming up to the idea of mental health and disability,” said Joshi.
SGI ties-up with Singapore business school
The Sanjay Ghodawat Institute (SGI) on Friday tied up with Singapore’s Nanyang Executive Education (NEE) at Nanyang Business School (NBS), to offer certification courses in marketing, human recourses and finance, which will be held at SGI Centre of Excellence, Pune and SGI campus in Kolhapur.
A Letter of Intent was signed between Sanjay Ghodawat, chairman SGI, and Dr Nilanjan Sen, associate dean, NEE- NBS.