Rehab centres run without licence

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal">BANGALORE: Of the 70 institutions working towards rehabilitation of the psychiatrically disabled in Karnataka, 50 are operating without legal permits.<br />"Inconsistencies in the rules framed by the Mental Health Act (1987) have made applications for licence extremely impractical, as it is impossible to accommodate the stipulated rules," NGOs claim.<br />Even the first rehabilitation centre set up for the psychiatrically disabled in 1974 - the Medico Pastoral Association, Bangalore - does not hold a licence to operate. According to the existing rules, the minimum standards prescribed for operating rehab centres is the same as those for mental hospitals.<br />The rules prescribe employing a psychiatrist for every 10 patients, besides nurses and ward boys. "These stipulations are not appropriate as rehab homes are very different from hospitals, which need beds, doctors, medical equipment etc," said MS Vasudeva Murthy of the Karnataka Association for Psychiatric Disability (KAPD).<br />In fact, even the number of psychiatrists working in government-run mental hospitals (1 for 10 patients) does not meet the stipulated norms, notes director of Pegasus Health Law consultants SV Joga Rao.<br />It all means that most rehab homes operating in the state have thrived at their own descretion. The Supreme Court has given the deputy commissioner of every district licensing authority after adequate recommendation from mental health inspectors. "But there have been hardly any inspections from mental health authorities," said a member of a rehab centre.<br />At a recent meeting with voluntary organisations, the Mental Health Authority, representatives of the health department and legal experts, Commissioner for Disabilites Sobha Nambisan suggested certain amendments to the existing rules.<br />"The health authorities must suggest rules which could be looked at from a realistic point of view. Once the minimum standards for rehab homes are spelt out, it is left to the authorities concerned to either provide or revoke licences," Assistant Commissioner for Disabilities Pradeep Kumar suggested.<br />The issue of the condition of rehab homes in Karnataka was triggered off after the Erawadi incident in Tamil Nadu, where 39 mentally ill patients who were chained in an asylum were charred to death. It then came to light that a few of the <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">dargahs</span> in Karnataka which housed the mentally ill also allegedly chained them.<br />Commissioner Nambisan took up the matter with the Wakf Board and ensured that proper facilities like sanitation, drinking water and other basic needs for the people visiting <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">dargahs</span> were taken care of.<br />"The need of the hour is a socially beneficial legislation. Authorities must be adequately sensitised to bring out practical and relevant rules," said advocate Laila Vallapalli, who has filed PILs in this regard in the High Court. </div> </div>