THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Hundreds of mentally ill patients in the state are left with no option but to live in misery under inhuman circumstances at the government mental health centres owing to the failure of authorities in implementing the Mental Health Care (MHC) Act, 2017.
Though efforts are on to constitute a mental health review board in the state, as mandated by the Act, the blatant violation of norms set by the Act by the State Mental Health Authority (SMHA) during the process is set to take the process to judicial review. This means it would be further delayed and the misery of the patients would continue inordinately as these regional boards are the judicial authority responsible for monitoring the functioning of mental health hospitals and ensuring the rights of the mentally ill.
Following severe criticism by the High Court, the government has expedited the procedure to constitute the board. Dissent is brewing among SMHA members as the selection was done in violation of the MHC Act.
SMHA member Fr George Joshua said the board was reconstituted nearly two years ago, but not even a single meeting was called till April 8, 2022.
“SMHA is a statutory body and the first meeting was held violating its sanctity. People who were not part of the body took part in the meeting which is against the statutory norms. In the meeting, we were informed that the verification committee selected 25 members for five boards out of 67 applications received. We are not satisfied with the selection process and many applications were rejected as they were not based on the MHC Act,” said George.
It is learnt around 15 judges have submitted applications, but only five were selected by the review committee constituted for the selection of the board members. He said all three mental health centres lack adequate infrastructure.
“It is disheartening that these patients are facing absolute neglect from the part of the authorities. Those who are mentally ill are the most neglected in society and there is nobody to speak for them. The past couple of years have made their situation worse because of neglect,” said George. He said the judiciary should intervene and ensure the recruitment procedure be done in a transparent and fair manner.