HYDERABAD: The recent incident of Mamatha Old Age home illegally running a de-addiction centre in Keesara has brought to light the increasing number of illegal and unlicenced de-addiction and rehabilitation centres operating in the city. A search on the Internet will reveal more than 50 substance de-addiction centres in Hyderabad.
The Directorate of Medical Education (DME), that issues the required licenses, told Express that only three de-addiction centres in the city have licenses, and that too at government hospitals. While treatment at these unregistered centres are often violent and illegal, the centres keep functioning without any consequences due to the taboo and silence surrounding the issue.
A well-placed source at the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) told Express, “Every corner of the city has a de-addiction centre. People buy or rent a three-bedroom flat and lure unsuspecting and vulnerable patients into these centres under the garb of rehabilitation. The patients are beaten up and given strong medication that cannot be prescribed by anyone other than a medical practitioner. This is a gross human rights violation. Many a times the parents or family members are unaware of treatment procedure.”
Corroborating this claim, B Srinivas, SI, Keesara said, “At Mamatha Old Age home, we found over 50 people, including minors, being ill-treated under the garb of treatment. There were minors as young as 16 years old. These 50 people were kept in two separate two bedroom apartments with no access to even basic facilities such as washrooms.”
Inquiries revealed that the home admitted persons with mental disabilities, psychiatric problems, alcohol addicts, and “treated” them. It was also found that they were charging Rs 10,000 a month from the patients.
Dr M Umashankar, superintendent, IMH, said, “Yes, there are private de-addiction centres that are illegal and unregistered. A proper procedure according to government guidelines has to be followed with the required number of personnel and doctors to open a rehabilitation or de-addiction centre. Incorrect prescription of drugs could lead to patient’s substance dependency shift from one drug to another.”
Explaining the procedure, Dr K Ramesh Reddy said, “Private de-addiction centres are to be registered with the DME. However, we have not been approached by any such centres for a licence. If any private centre plans to open, they have to apply to the DME’s office. We will then send a team for inspection to the centre and then provide a licence if they meet all requirements. However, we currently operate only three de-addiction centres in Gandhi, Osmania Hospital and IMH.”
The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment implements a “Central Sector Scheme of Assistance for Prevention of Alcoholism and Substance (Drugs) Abuse” under which financial assistance is provided to NGOs, Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs), Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) etc for, inter-alia, running and maintenance of Integrated Rehabilitation Centres for Addicts (IRCAs).