ACMI - Action for Mental Illness

ACMI is a registered charitable trust set up in Oct. 2003

Board of Trustees

Dr. Nirmala Srinivasan, Director and Trustee , ACMI ( acmiindia@yahoo.co.in)

Mr.Sudhir , USA.

Dr.Sandhya Iya , Management Consultant , HRD and Behavioral Assessments , Ex-IISc , Bangalore.

ACMI Founders

Nirmala Srinivasan, Ph.D. has been passionately involved in the cause of mental illness for the last one decade. The mission is her personal passion in life. As founder of AMEND, (Bangalore) the first autonomous self help group for families and patients of mental illness, her close interaction with the ground realities of day to day management of patients in families equipped her with insights into larger issues of rights , policies and law related to persons with mental illness. She is member of several state level policy making bodies in the field of mental health, the most recent one being the Sub-Committee for Plan of Action for Mental Health in Karnataka. She holds a Ph.D. in Sociology from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi; has taught in leading business schools before dedicating her life to work for the Cause. In recognition of her contribution to the Cause, she has been awarded the Ashoka Fellowship in 2003 by Ashoka Innovators for Public, Washington D.C.

Laila Ollapally ,, MA (Economics) , LL.M is a practicing Advocate in the High Court of Karnataka. She has special interest in the field of Consumer Protection, Environment, Health Care and the Disabilities. She is involved in litigation in the Karnataka High Court for promoting health care for the mentally ill and their rights. Several relevant orders are obtained from the Court in the field of mental health plan in KA.. She works with the government and the service providers for implementation of these orders and creates legal awareness amongst them and among the persons with mental illness and their family care givers.

Volunteers from Support Groups

AMEND , Bangalore

ROSHINI , Delhi
Capt.Srafaraz Ansari
Prof.Balasubramanian
Mr.Bhoumick
Mrs. Neera Suri

ROSHNI has played a significant role in promoting the Cause. It was instrumental in forwarding the case for legislative amendments of the Mental Health Act with the Ministry of Health. Besides individual case histories, they made the Ministry aware of the White Paper drafted by the participants of the Law and MI workshop conducted by ACMI in May 2006

Other Volunteers
Volunteers from MAD, Hewlett Packard, Bangalore
ASHOKA Innovators For Public, India and Washington
Holla and Holla, Advocates, Bangalore
Students of Law and Society group in NLSUI, Bangalore
Mr. Fahad , Dotline Solutions , Bangalore
Mr.Ravi Urs, Knowledgeworkz, Bangalore
Ms.Rashmi, Upadhyaya, Price Water Company, Bangalore
Mr Sridhar Venugopal , Renga Foundation for Human Development ,Bangalore
Mr.Randhir Wokhlu, Bangalore

Donors
Koohiji Group of Companies, Dubai, UAE.
Varalakshmi Foundation, GMR Group, Bangalore.
HP ISO Pvt.Ltd Bangalore.
Syntillations , the social service club of LogicaCMG, Bangalore.