CHANIDGARH, Novemeber 17: Mohar Singh, 70, was diagnosed for cataract in both eyes as many as 16 years ago. Krishan Lal Bhatia was luckier; his cataract was identified only five years ago, in August 1993. Both of them are now among the seven inmates operated upon in as many days after a revelatory study by the Punjab Human Rights Commission shook the staff out of their slumber at the Dr Vidya Sagar Government Mental Hospital here.Says an unfazed Medical Superintendent of the hospital, Kiranjit Kumar, who is now personally overseeing the cure for cataract: "The Mental Health Act has no provision for treatment of ailments other than mental disorders." He defends his staff saying the relatives of these patients were informed several times to arrange for the eye operation but no one came forward.That may actually be true. Even as these inmates go through the paces of cataract correction, rejection by their families stares them in the face.Forty-five-year-old Padam Nath from Ghumiaran Wali Gali in the walled city of Amritsar has made the hospital his ultimate home and honed his skills as a painter. After the hospital treated his mental disorders and sent him home twice over the past decade, he was not accepted by his family. Now, though a normal man, he says he has lost the desire to go back. "I want to earn my livelihood and be on my own," he says.Work for Nath hasn't been far to seek. He has painted all the signboards of the hospital. Gushes Medical Superintendent Kumar, proud of his work: "He needs rehabilitation, not mere lip service or sympathy".Nath has 41 others for company. Released on parole after they were found to be normal by a visiting experts committee in September, they have all taken refuge at the hospital after their families refused to accept them back.They include Kuldip Kaur of Chandigarh and Meena Rani Jain of Ambala Cantonment. The two unfortunate women are languishing in the mental patients wards for over a decade now, despite having been released several times. Balwant Kaur, 50, was admitted for schizophrenia but has developed a fracture in her right femur.Gungi is a deaf and dumb woman who should have been admitted to a centre for rehabilitation of deaf and dumb, but was put into this hospital a decade-and- a-half ago. Now, she has lost her eyesight, too, though the doctors claim that she suffers from hereditary night blindness.Says a concerned Head of Psychiatry Department of Amritsar's Government Medical College, Dr B.L. Goel: "Unfortunately, there is no lobby to fight for the rights of mentally-retarded persons. We can't blame any one doctor for the sorry state of affairs. The system has collapsed".Goel should know, for, he has been instrumental, on behalf of the Punjab Human Rights Commission, in highlighting the agony of the inmates, including 16 of those who have lost their eyesight due to lack of proper medical care. Goel, who has examined 194 inmates admitted more than 10 years ago of the 442 at this mental hospital, doesn't rule out the possibility of more patients suffering from chronic diseases other than mental problems.His findings reveal that the hospital has only five psychiatrists to look after over 400 patients. Adds Kiranjit Kumar: "Qualified doctors are not available." Both Goel and Kumar point out that the hospital has received a grant of Rs 15 lakh this year to meet the diet expenditure when the requirement is Rs 21 lakh at Rs 25 per patient per day which has been recently raised from Rs 8.
