Online dashboard on mental health facilities to be set up in a month: Center tells SC

New Delhi: The Centre on Tuesday told the Supreme Court that in a month, it will set up an online portal for seamless information in connection with mental health facilities available in the country.

The Centre's counsel submitted before a bench, headed by Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud and comprising Justices Hima Kohli and J.B. Pardiwala, that tenders have been invited by the government for displaying real-time information on mental health facilities at the district level on the portal.

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As counsel further added that the portal would be ready and functional within a period of a month, the top court said it will hear the matter after a month.

The Centre's submissions came on a PIL filed by lawyer seeking rehabilitation and Covid-19 vaccination of mentally-ill people currently lodged in various hospitals and mental healthcare institutions across the country.

In September last year, the top court had passed several directions, where it directed the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment to set up a dashboard for seamless information in connection with facilities available in states and Union Territories (UTs) for mentally challenged people.

It had said that the dashboard should include -- availability of institutions, capacity, facilities provided, occupancy, and also region wise distribution of the half-way homes should reflect on the online dashboard.

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