Nisha Ghosal
The Madras High Court has issued notice and ask the Central and State government to set up more psychiatry institutes amid the rising need for mental health care.
The Court expressed its concern about negligible funds being allocated to mental health.
In KR Raju v. State of Tamil Nadu and ors case, the Justices N Kirubakaran and B Pugalendhi asked all the ministries to give their view about bringing better mental health infrastructure in the country.
It stated, “there is no sufficient budgetary allocation for the mental healthcare which is required to be increased as one among seven persons is suffering from mental health disorders.”
The Court further stated, “The amount spent on mental health comes to 33 paisa for mental health patient, given the number of 150 Million people requiring urgent care.”
“It is reported in Parliament in March 2020 that a sum of 48 Crores Rupees only has been spent on mental health in the year 2018-2019, which approximately comes to Rs.2.40/- per patient in a year or approximately, 20 paisa per month per patient.”
It further mentioned the availability of merely 49 child psychiatrists in the whole country.
The Court noted that not sufficient awareness programmes were undertaken despite the enactment of the Mental Healthcare Act, 2017.
The Court further stated that the taboo attached to mental health is a hindrance for people to seek medical help.
The Court stressed the need to have institutes like NIMHANS (National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences) in North, East, West, and Central India.
It said, “Every zone should have an institution like, NIMHANS. Similarly, psychiatry is not a subject in all the medical colleges and hence, psychiatry should be introduced in every medical college as the requirement of psychiatrists is more.”
The Bench stated that “only a negligible number of mental hospitals are stated to be functioning in the country and for 130 Crore of population, more number of mental health care centres have to be established by the Central Government as well as by all the State Governments…”
The Bench also asked the government to conduct surveys related to mental health across the nation.