The Mental Health Bill was passed by Lok Sabha on Monday.
In a landmark piece of legislation, The Mental Healthcare Bill was passed in Parliament on Monday. The bill seeks to decriminalise suicide attempt by mentally ill people and provides for the right to better healthcare for people suffering from mental illness.
All the amendments moved by opposition members were defeated before the Bill was passed by the House by a voice vote. Rajya Sabha had passed the Bill in August last year with 134 official amendments.
Just before the Bill was passed in Lok Sabha, Health Minister J P Nadda said, 'The Mental Healthcare Bill' has provisions to protect and restore the property right of the mentally ill people.
It also focuses on community-based treatment and provides for special treatment for women. The bill seeks to ensure health-care, treatment and rehabilitation of persons with mental illness "in a manner that does not intrude on their rights and dignity." While replying to a debate on the bill, Nadda described it as a "patient-centric" measure and said there was a need to empower the patients so that they could secure proper treatment.
Here is all that you need to know about the much talked about bill:
1. A person who attempts suicide shall be presumed to be suffering from mental illness at that time and will not be punished under the Indian Penal Code.
2. Every person shall have the right to access mental health care and treatment from services run or funded by the government. Free treatment will be provided to homeless or those belonging to Below Poverty Line (BPL), even if they do not possess a BPL card.
3. A mentally ill person shall have the right to make an advance directive that states how he wants to be treated.
4. After following the advance directive, medical practitioners and health professionals cannot be held liable for any unforeseen consequences.
5. Central Mental Health Authority needs to be set-up at national-level, and State Mental Health Authority for every State.
6. Every mental health establishment and practitioners (such as clinical psychologists, mental health nurses and psychiatric social workers) have to be registered with the relevant Central or State Mental Health Authority.
7. Electro-convulsive therapy — commonly known as electric shock therapy — will only be allowed with the use of muscle relaxants and anaesthesia. Also, the therapy will now be prohibited for minors.
8. Sterilisation cannot be performed on a mentally ill person.
9. Information pertaining to a person with mental illness cannot be released to media without his/her consent.
10. Punishment for flouting the provisions of the Bill can land the violator in jail for six months or a fine of Rs 10,000 can be imposed or both. Repeat offenders can face up to two years in jail or a fine of Rs 50,000 to Rs 5 lakh or both.
(With agency inputs)
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