Ranchi hospitals spurn the mentally sick

Every year, on an average, 60-70 patients escape from these hospitals and are reported as “missing”. According to RMA and the CIP’s records, only one or two are traced back and readmitted annually. Though former RMA director Baxi K R P Sinha insists “a few of them manage to reach their homes”, that still leaves a substantial number who are unaccounted for and who, many believe, end up on the roads.

Moreover, since 1990, RMA and the CIP have been pursuing a “restricted” admission policy. So while each institution receives 450-600 applications per month, only 30-40 patients are admitted.

According to an RMA physician, Dr Mukesh, the guardians of the other mentally sick, who bring them sometimes from far-flung places in Bihar, and even Orissa and West Bengal, often don’t bother to take them back.

Under the Mental Health Act, 1987, the police are supposed to pick up any wandering lunatics and produce them before a magistrate. If certified as mentally imbalanced after a medical examination, they have to be admitted to government-run medical hospitals. But this is rarely, if ever, done. The law, on the other hand, gives a convenient leeway to the hospitals, which put all the blame on the police.