Expressing its helpless, the Centre, however, told the court that it had drafted a policy for the wellbeing of such women.
The Centre is financially handicapped and cannot support mentally-challenged destitute women roaming the streets of the country. Shocking though it may sound, but this is what the Delhi high court was told when it asked the government to become guardian of such women who frequently become victims of crime.
Expressing its helpless, the Centre, however, told the court that it had drafted a policy for the wellbeing of such women.
The court was hearing a PIL highlighting the plight of mentally-challenged former model Geetanjali Nagpal, who was found on the capital’s streets sometime ago.
After the media highlighted Geetanjali’s plight, the court took suo motu cognisance of the matter and sought the government’s response.
A committee set up by a bench of justices AP Shah and S Muralidhar says there are at least 1,300 mentally-challenged and destitute women in the capital that’s busy decorating itself for the Commonwealth Games.
A report says about 2 crore Indians are suffering from mental illnesses, but there are only 3,500 psychiatrists and 1,500 psychiatric nurses to treat them.
“The number of psychiatrists for every 10 lakh people ranges from 0.4 in India to 3 in The Maldives, and the number of psychiatric nurses from 0.4 in India to 18 in Sri Lanka,” RC Jiloha, head of psychiatry at Delhi’s GB Pant Hospital, said.
He estimates 1-2% of India’s 100-crore plus population suffers from major mental disorders and about 5% from minor depressive disorders.
“The number of doctors in the country is highly disproportionate to the number of patients. We urgently need more psychiatrists,” Jiloha said.
“Most people who need treatment have to spend from their own pockets, as most insurance schemes do not cover psychiatric patients. A majority of the poor do not get adequate treatment, or prefer ineffective alternatives,” an expert added.
A government official said the concern was not unfounded and that the health ministry had allocated Rs1,000 crore for the purpose in the 11th five-year plan. The government proposes to support the setting up of more psychiatry departments in the country. This will generate 60 psychiatrists, 240 clinical psychologists and 600 psychiatric nurses per year, he said. But the question is, is the allocation enough.
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