Madurai: Observing that 47 government-managed mental health hospitals are not enough for a country such as India with a population of nearly 136 crores, Madras High Court requests a center to form an early mental health institution such as Nimhans.
It must also allocate more funds for mental health care because more and more people suffer from mental illness.
A justice and kirubakan division bench (since retirees after signing orders) and Justice B Pugalendhi observed that the World Health Organization called India the most depressed country in the world.
Therefore, this is a central task along with all state governments to have a comprehensive action plan to identify patients with mental illness and provide proper care.
A periodic survey must be done for this purpose, the court said.
Because there is a lack of acute psychiatrists and psychiatrists in the country, the judges say all medical colleges must have a psychiatric department with postgraduate courses.
“The concept of only having a mental hospital to provide psychiatric care is a worsened.
Now, it is believed that the majority of people with mental illness can be managed in the community or through outpatient care,” said the judges while calling for an effort to have a psychiatrist in all headquarters hospitals Taluk.
The court issued an order when it wasted the pill submitted by Krasaai who was looking for a direction to set up an exclusive medical wing in a middle prison both in Trichy or Madurai to provide mental health care to prisoners with adequate staff.
Prepare mental health institutions, allocate more funds: Madras HC tells the Center
