NHRC to inspect Mental Hospital in Agra

New Delhi: A delegation of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) led by its chairperson Justice Arun Kumar Mishra is scheduled to visit a mental hospital in Agra later this week to inspect the facility, officials said.

The rights panel had recently received a report from authorities that pointed toward "shortcomings and difficulties in the functioning" of the institution in Uttar Pradesh.

Recently, a delegation of the NHRC led by its chairperson Justice Arun Kumar Mishra visited Gwalior Mansik Arogyashala to inspect and have first-hand knowledge of its present condition.

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The delegation includes NHRC members, Justice M M Kumar, Dr D M Mulay, Rajiv Jain, its secretary general Devendra Kumar Singh and joint secretary Harish Chandra Chaudhary.

The rights panel in a statement on Monday said the delegation led by the NHRC chief will go for an inspection of the Institute of Mental Health and Hospital, Agra, and also hold a workshop on July 27-28.

"The Hon'ble Supreme Court, in an order dated November 11, 1997, in response to a PIL, had directed the district judge to continue the monitoring of mental hospitals in Gwalior, Agra and Ranchi, and give necessary directions from time to time by sending periodic reports to the NHRC, with a copy to the Hon'ble Supreme Court," it said.

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Accordingly, the NHRC chairperson had requested the Chief Justice of Allahabad High Court to advise the District Judge of Agra to monitor the functioning of the mental hospitals and to send quarterly reports to the NHRC with a copy to the Supreme Court, the commission said in the statement. "A similar D.O. letter from the NHRC Joint Secretary to the District Judge of Agra was issued, wherein the report for the quarter ending March 31, 2022, was requested to be submitted to the Commission latest by April 20, 2022," it said.

An inspection report received from the Additional District and Sessions Judge, Agra in this regard "highlighted shortcomings and difficulties in the functioning of the hospital, including lack of funds, shortage of staff, poor infrastructure, poor accommodation, difficulty in locating the family members of cured patients and difficulty in repatriation," the statement said.

The sensitisation workshop, on July 28, day two of the delegation visit, will include participation, among others, by Himanshu Kumar, Principal Secretary, Department of Social Welfare; Pranjal Yadav, Special Secretary, Department of Medical Health & Family Welfare; Prof Pratima Murthy, Director, NIMHANS; the Divisional Commissioner and District Judge of Agra, it said.

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