NHRC takes steps to set right "appalling" mental hospitals

The National Human Rights Commission has described the state of mental hospitals throughout the country as ''appalling'' and initiated several steps, including a research project on ''quality assurance of mental hospitals,'' to improve the situation.

The NHRC said most of the mental hospitals in the country were overcrowded, and serve as ''dumping grounds'' for desperate relatives, who don't realise that patients can return home after appropriate treatment.

Some mental hospitals in India lack even basic amenities and do little to alleviate the ignorance of relatives about the illness, medication and possible rehabilitation of their mentally ill kin.

The planned research project, being undertaken by the Bangalore-based National Institute of Mental Health And Neuro Sciences, will analyse the conditions prevailing in government-run mental hospitals in various parts of the country.

Commission sources said NIMHANS has been asked to suggest possible solutions to improve standards of care and better methods of rehabilitation for recovered patients.

According to the National Mental Health programme document, about 20 million to 30 million Indians need some form of mental care. For the vast majority, who cannot pay big bills, state-run mental hospitals are the only recourse.

However, the NHRC said conditions in many mental hospitals were far from satisfactory. They continue to embody old concepts of mental health care and function essentially as custodial rather than therapeutic institutions.

The human rights of the mentally ill has emerged as a growing concern. The United Nations through the Declaration on Human Rights in 1948, affirmed that a mentally ill person should at all times be treated with humanity and respect.

It states that the mentally ill person, even in hospital, has the right to bodily integrity and appearance, a right to privacy, a right to appropriate treatment, a right to be protected from cruelty and involuntary servitude, a right to be respected and a right to community and family life once improved, rather than a life of incarceration.

While the Constitution recognises that the mentally ill are an underprivileged section of society and have a right to equal status, most of these principles remain on paper. Despite the few provisions made in the Mental Health Act of 1987, and the Supreme Court directives of the minimum facilities to be available in mental hospitals, the ensuing changes have been far from satisfactory.

There have been few efforts to review procedures and to ensure the protection of the patient's rights as expected by the Act.

Mental health has traditionally received little priority in national and state planning. Despite the shortage of resources, some problems could still be resolved, to improve quality of patient care, the NIMHANS spokesperson said.

The NIMHANS project is planned in three phases. In the first, information pertaining to both administrative and clinical matters will be collected from mental hospitals. Thereafter, mental health experts from NIMHANS will visit the hospitals and evaluate the quality of services provided and issues related to the Mental Health Act and the protection of human rights. In the second phase, workshops will be organised for selected hospital staff. In the final phase, a report will be prepared.

The commission has requested all states and Union territories to provide all necessary help and assistance to the NIMHANS team.