Project Saathi: Creating safe spaces, mental health support for UT students

The project has been conceived by the Chandigarh Citizens’ Foundation (CCF) focus group on mental health in November 2024 in response to rising concern over student suicides

In a fast-paced society with students often finding themselves in anxiety, stress driven by studies, competition and other factors, project Saathi is aiming to create emotionally supportive school environments, ensuring their mental well being. The project is being executed through yoga, mindfulness, value education, mindful games and other experiential activities.

With the project, launched by the UT administrator on January 29 2025, sessions with students began in February 2025 in six government schools. (HT File)

On Friday, an experiential sharing meet of Saathi project was organised at Government Girls Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 18, attended by former chief of army staff General VP Malik, director Kavy Amudha Narayanan, director GD Goenka School, Mohali, Kavita Das, former additional chief secretary of Punjab Balamurugan and Sathi project coordinator Gurpreet Kaur.

The project has been conceived by the Chandigarh Citizens’ Foundation (CCF) focus group on mental health in November 2024 in response to rising concern over student suicides. CCF coordinated the project, identified the participating schools and arranged the training of 87 school counsellors by clinicians from GMCH and PGIMER, of whom 21 were trained as master trainers. With the project, launched by the UT administrator on January 29 2025, sessions with students began in February 2025 in six government schools.

Based on the theme “Building strong minds and healthy lives”, CCF in collaboration with the education department is running the project Saathi on pilot basis having involved 3,000 students in activities for mindful learning, emotional stability and positive thoughts. The six schools selected across the city are– senior secondary schools in Sector 16, 18, 19, 33, 38 West and 39.

Gen Malik, the current president of CCF emphasised on creating a model of supportive school environment that can be conveyed to UT administration to use it in all schools for greater impact. Gen Malik stressed on the need to monitor the progress of children under this project for years to come to see long term results. “In the army we train ourselves to win the war, we never think of losing or coming second. We need to address the issue of stress and other mental health issues with this approach”, he said.

In her presentation, Amudha Narayanan spoke about the effectiveness of Krishnamacharya Ashtanga Viniyoga, with the emphasis on breathing techniques. Sister BK Neha, highlighted the significance of nurturing students’ emotional well-being and integrating wellness practices into everyday school life. The discussions emphasised the importance of moving beyond academic achievement to focus on emotional intelligence, positive relationships, mindfulness and the creation of safe, happy and inclusive learning spaces.