Meghalaya mental institute under scanner

The state Government has asked for a report on the functioning of the Meghalaya Institute of Mental Health and Neurological Sciences (MIMHANS), the only Government-run mental institute, following the suicide of one of its inmates. The institute has frequently come under the scanner of the NGOs and human right activists.

Health Minister Deborah Marak told The Indian Express that the main problem dogging MIMHANS is its building. Three years ago, the Central Government had released fund for the construction of a new hospital complex. Marak said: “The building is complete, but the contractor is yet to hand it over to the Government.” She feels that once the institute is shifted to the new building, things will fall in place.

However, there have been allegation that the inmates are made to clean the institute.

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Rubbishing the allegations, Dr L S Kharlukhi, MIMHANS in-charge, said: “Sometimes the inmates voluntarily work as they want to remain occupied. We don’t force them.”

The mental institute is currently functioning from a building that was earlier the Nagaland jail. When Meghalaya was granted statehood, the jail was handed over to the state and the premises was used to house mental patients. However, the Government continued to run the institute according to the rules laid down in the jail manual.