Bengal Govt owes Ranchi asylums Rs 17 crore

The DoH withdrew its 80 patients from the Ranchi Mansik Arogyashal and admitted them to the Behrampur Mental Hospital in Murshidabad on September 5, without paying any dues since 1994. Now, its 20 patients at the RMA and 76 at the Central Institute of Psychiatry are slated to be shifted to the West Bengal Government-run Institute for Mental Care in Purulia on October 28.

8220;There is nothing unofficial about it. The concerned Government officials have approved it and the Calcutta High Court last year directed the West Bengal Government to save money bytreating patients at its own hospitals rather than in hospitals outside the State,8221; said DoH Assistant Superintendent Tushar Kanti Ganguli, who is deputed at the RMA.

But an Ranchi Mansik Arogyashal official countered that the High Court had not ordered the Government to withdraw its patients without clearing dues.The patients due to be shifted are of both sexes. Most are above 50 years and suffering from chronic psychiatric ailments such as mood disorder and schizophrenia. They have been undergoing treatment here for periods varying between two to 52 years. 8220;We are planning to give them a farewell before they leave,8221; said CIP Acting Director B.K. Sinha.

Since inception in 1925, the RMA and CIP, which are under the Bihar Government8217;s Health Department HD and the Centre8217;s Director-General of Health Services DGHS, have maintained a fixed quota of five to 150 beds for Bihar, West Bengal, Orissa, Mizoram, Tripura, Himachal Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Nagaland and Uttar Pradesh.

Under thehospitals8217; rules, each States admits patients against its quota and pays per bed at the prescribed rates. However, payment is irregular and Tripura, Nagaland, Bihar and West Bengal reportedly owe the CIP Rs 1.83 crore, Rs 1.82 crore, Rs 4.62 crore and Rs 15 crore, respectively. Sinha said the DoH did not clear its dues before shifting out patients as the Health Department and the Director-General of Health Services had okayed the move.

8220;We have no option as the Director-General of Health Services has ordered us to release the patients and realise the dues later,8221; he said.