A state-of-the art Mental Health Institute for the treatment of the mentally ill will now be constructed in the Union Territory of Chandigarh.
The foundation stone of the Mental Health Institute (MHI) was laid down in the city on Tuesday. The institute will provide facilities including medical treatment for people with mental illness who require a longer stay for the treatment and rehabilitation.
The institute will run under the overall control of the Government Medical College & Hospital, Sector 32 here. The building of MHI is being constructed on 5 acres land i.e. 2.09 acres plot lying vacant and earmarked for the institute and the rest of the land or old building is of Government Institute for Mentally-handicapped, Sector 32. Both these plots will be interconnected.
A spokesperson of the UT Administration said, the Union Ministry of Health & Family Welfare has already created 93 number of posts of different categories for the institute. In addition to the medical treatment by the psychiatrist at the institute, the therapists will provide behavior therapy, psychotherapy and counseling, vocational training for long-term rehabilitation.
The spokesperson said that the MHI in Chandigarh is being setup on the directions of Supreme Court of India, which took suo motu cognizance of live burning of many mentally-challenged people who were chained in a Dargah in Erawadi district of Tamil Nadu and directed the State Governments to set up the institute.
The foundation stone of the MHI was laid down by KK Sharma, Advisor to the UT Administrator. He also desired that the building of Mental Health Institute should be made centrally air conditioned and he directed the Chief Engineer and Chief Architect to examine the complete lay out in this respect.