Laxmidhar Mishra (right) with Neel Madhav Rath of Mental Health Institute. Picture by Badrika Nath Das

Cuttack, July 4: Special rapporteur of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) Laxmidhar Mishra today expressed concern over the lack of basic requirements for the patients during his visit to the Mental Health Institute (MHI) at S.C.B Medical College and Hospital, which would be upgraded into a centre of excellence.

The MHI does not have an “independent kitchen” or a dietician to prepare a balanced diet for mentally ill patients, who need special care and attention.

“According to provision, a male patients needs to have 3,000 kilocalories of food while a female patient should consume 2,500 kilocalories per day. Here, the institute does not have its own kitchen and is dependent on SCB’s canteen,” said Mishra.

The state government had recently hiked the food cost for patients at SCB to Rs 50 from Rs 20. A study has to be made to ensure if the food for patients was balanced or not, he said.

Mishra has been serving as the special NHRC rapporteur since 2006 and has visited the mental health institute at SCB and submitted his report five times.

He said that a mentally ill person enjoyed the right to decent living and accommodation, personal hygiene, right to leisure and recreation, right to environment and sanitation.

There were no adequate scope for recreation facilities, staff, toilets and other indoor and outdoor games facilities for patients at the institute.

At present, there were 60 beds for the patients at the Mental Health Institute, which would be upgraded to 120 beds keeping in view the proposed centre of excellence, the work for which has already started.

“As the Mental Health Institute has open wards where patients stay along with their relatives, we have recommended to install beds with low heights for relatives that can be pushed under the patient’s bed, when not in use,” Mishra said adding that he would soon be submitting his report to the commission in this regard.

The ministry of health and family welfare, under the National Mental Health Programme, has identified the MHI in Cuttack as one of the 11 institutions in the country to be upgraded as a centre of excellence under the 11th five-year plan. sThe proposed centre of excellence would function from a five-storey building that would be constructed at a cost of Rs 18 crore while an additional Rs 9 crore would be spent towards procurement of state-of-the-art equipment.

“We are initiating steps for the development of infrastructure and providing quality treatment to the patients. As of now, there is no immediate problem in not having a special independent kitchen. We will ensure that all the requirements are available at the new building,” said head of the MHI, Neel Madhav Rath.