‘Set up national mental health commission ASAP’

Mental health professionals have demanded the setting up of a national mental health commission as there is no infrastructure to help those afflicted with such problems integrate with society Over 999 lakh families still await the return of their loved ones as was the case with Sanjay Kumar a Bihar native who was declared dead on paper two years agomidday in its report Mentally ill homeless man returns from dead dated November 2 had highlighted how the Patna resident who went missing in 2018 and was presumed dead in an accident was sent to Karjat from Kerala a few months ago and was finally reunited with his kin two years after they cremated a body believed to be hisMumbaibased Ramon Magsaysay Award winner Dr Bharat Vatwani who treated and repatriated Sanjay a schizophrenic said ldquoThe Mental Healthcare Act 2017 states that those with mental illness PMI who are destitutehomelessliving below the poverty line whether or not in possession of a BPL card shall be entitled to mental health services free of charge in all mental health establishmentsrdquoldquoIt is tragic that there are no actual infrastructural facilitiesmdashbe they financial or physical or human resourcesmdashto implement the law and citizens are crying for facilities already promised The hard reality remains that a million Indians on the road have a mental illness as per a NIMHANS report Sanjay was just one of themrdquo said Dr VatwanildquoTheir families must be in emotional limbo about when to stop waiting for their return and move on to get closure Add to these their neighbourhoods their village communities and one gets an idea of the emotional holocaust associated with this plight of the wandering mentally ill in India There is no catharsis and there is no closurerdquo Dr Vatwani concludedNational commission requiredDr Harish Shetty a consulting psychiatrist attached to Dr LH Hiranandani Hospital Powai said ldquoMental health professionals need to understand that holistic reintegration of a recovered mentally ill person is their responsibility If a wandering mentally ill person is treated and rehabilitated either in the family or elsewhere there should be an automatic mechanism to absorb them back in societyrdquoHe added that the onus of legal corrections should be of the state A national mental health rights commission needs to be formedrdquo he saidCollective failureDr Soumitra Pathare a consultant psychiatrist and director of the Centre for Mental Health Law amp Policy Indian Law Society ILS Pune who had provided technical assistance to the Ministry of Health in drafting the Mental Healthcare Act 2017 said ldquoIt is a collective failure of law enforcement agencies the judiciary and the government The Act will be implemented in its true sense only when collective participation of the executive judiciary and law enforcement agencies is channelised towards the welfare of the mentally illrdquoldquoThe Act has provisions wherein the police are expected to make an entry of mentally ill people found or repatriated with their family after going missing and the police should ensure that such information is passed on to the national data centre But the question is who checks whether or not the police are following procedures The fact is neither the executive nor the judiciary is concerned about the welfare of the mentally ill The least we can do is spread awareness among the masses and with time the public will question the judiciary and the executive about their right to mental healthcare and only then will this act become a realityrdquo Pathare concludedBudgetary provision neededDr Sanjay Kumavat senior consulting psychiatrist and former deputy director Mental Health Services Maharashtra said ldquoIt is unfortunate that there is no mention of allocation for funds for setting up the required infrastructure for the Mental Healthcare Act to be implemented fully by setting up mental health boards in each district As the Act is silent about the same the onus is on the state to arrange for the finances for the wellbeing and rehabilitation of mentally ill patientsHe added ldquoMaharashtra will require additional funding of 1000 crore per annum to implement the Act across 36 districts The Centre should have made a budgetary provision of 3 to 4 per cent of the Union budget to implement the Act seriously at the state level It is high time that the state and Centre work together in the interest of the mentally ill and their familiesSC counsel speakAdvocate Floyd Gracias counsel Supreme Court who has been vocal on mental health issues said ldquoThere must be a law or statutory requirement for assisting or treating such people so that they can be traced back to their homes It is imperative to secure such people the right to health and safety and ensure they do not fall into danger or the wrong handsrdquo