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| Headlines Vol. 2 Issue7-8 | June 22- July 6 , 1999 |
State Mental Health Authority formed in Mizoram The Mizoram Government has formed a State Mental Health Authority to advise it on the various aspects of the subject in the State. With this, Mizoram has become the first State in the North-East to have State mental health rules and a Mental Health Authority, required under the Mental Health Act of 1987. But officials attached to the new set-up say the formation of the authority is still not enough to cater to the mentally-ill people in the State. The State has rudimentary psychiatry service at the Aizawl District Civil Hospital with 14 indoor beds facility. People from all over Mizoram come to the State capital for the facility. But in a State where over 50 per cent of the population live below the poverty line, many find it impossible to reach here from far-flung areas. Besides, several 'more disturbed' and violent patients are not entertained at the civil hospital as they could not be kept in a general ward. According to Mental Health Authority member secretary and psychiatrist Dr. John M. Ralte, due to such constraints many families in Mizoram have been forced to keep their mentally ill kins in unqualified care centres run by NGOs without proper medical care. Though the State Government has reserved beds at Ranchi and Tezpur Mental Hospitals, the needy have not been able to utilise the facility due to financial constraints and language barriers. Till 1994, about 30 mentally ill people were lodged at the Aizawl Central Jail as non-criminal lunatics (NCL).Depending upon the resources and manpower available, the NCLs were given required medical treatment or were just fed and locked away for the sake of peace and safety of society. But after a Supreme Court ruling, the practice was abandoned.The ruling, according to Dr. Ralte, created problems for the authority as there was no place to keep the patients.On the other hand, plans to build a mental hospital or the ambitious Rs. 4.5 crore Institute for Human Behaviour and Allied Sciences (INHUBAS) have been placed on back burner. |
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