Mohan Agashe slams govt apathy towards mentally ill

Dr Alka Pawar,head of the Department of Psychiatry at B J Medical College and in-charge at the MIMH,had told The Indian Express that they had been drafting and re-drafting proposals so that the government sanctions funds for the rehabilitation centre project at Yerawada. But it didn’t happen. But when Rs 98 lakh was sanctioned,part of the land had been withdrawn by then. Out of 12 acres,part of the land has been taken up by the Dnyaneshwari private education trust,headed by relatives of revenue minister Narayan Rane.

“Our entire project for construction of half-way homes and rehabilitation centre at Yerawada and a building for teaching and research at Pashan site had been approved several decades ago. With no funds,the land was lying unutilised,” said Agashe. Pawar said the MIMH had formally sent a letter to Chief Minister Ashok Chavan regarding the transfer of part of the plot at Yerawada to the trust.

At present,19 teaching posts are yet to be sanctioned by the state. This has led to a delay in the grant of funds from the Centre,said Pawar,who is in New Delhi scouting for funds from the central government for development projects for the mentally ill. “It’s a pity,” Agashe said,adding that a road map for the rehabilitation of mentally ill had been submitted to the government in 1988. “It is not possible to execute schemes unless we have space and trained manpower,” he said.

Meanwhile,there is demand for an approximate 35,000 psychiatrists while there are only 3,500 now. By 2020,depression will be the second largest illness and hence at the state mental health department,the strategy is to set up training institutes at various hospitals to create a pool of manpower,said Agashe. Every year,the MIMH at Sassoon Hospital treats some 300 patients and even restarted courses in rehabilitation and counselling in 2006.