Maharashtra govt neglects mental healthcare

After having lost 5 acres of its land to a lesser-known education trust run by a relatives of state industries minister, Narayan Rane, the Maharashtra Institute for Mental Health (MIMH) is now worried about the fate of 14 acres of prime land allotted to it in Pashan.

The Pashan land, located in survey number 34, near the Indian Institute for Tropical Meteorology, was sanctioned in 1998 for a 240-bed mental hospital as a tertiary care centre.

Director of MIMH, Dr Alka Pawar, told DNA that there had been no progress in the past 12 years, as the government did not take any initiative.

“The land was allotted to MIMH for a hospital meant for mentally-ill who need extra care, along with an old age centre. Besides, staff quarters and training centre for staff members were also planned. For the last many years, we have been seeking approval from the government to launch the project. We have been demanding grants, but it has all been in vain,” she said.

While the Pashan project is at a standstill, the institute’s proposed rehabilitation centre for recovering patients and an auditorium in Vishrantwadi are also on hold.

According to a highly reliable source in the MIMH, the Pashan and the Vishrantwadi projects can take off if the government simply gives a written commitment to the central government that it will bear the expenses of the two projects after the 11th 5-year Plan.

MIMH has been shortlisted by the ministry of health and family welfare as the ‘Regional Centre for Excellence’ and Rs30 crore has been sanctioned for its upgradation.

“However, this money will be released only when the state government gives its commitment of bearing the cost of the MIMH projects. At Pashan, a mental hospital has been proposed under this scheme. The first phase of this project will include manpower development, while the second phase will include construction of buildings, hospital, auditorium and related centres in Pashan and Vishrantwadi. This plan was sanctioned by the Union ministry in 2009,” said a well-informed official.

The official said the state has given administrative sanction for the second phase but has kept the first phase on hold. “We have still not received any approval from the government. The correspondence between state government and the MIMH is on since January 2009,” the official said.