The Madras High Court on Monday directed the State government to spell out its stand on implementing the State-level Mental Health Policy so that “the mentally challenged are accorded the basic human dignity to which they are entitled to and the larger society begins to take care of such vulnerable section”.
Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy called for the government’s response by August 2.
Framed in 2019
The order was passed on a public interest litigation petition filed by CHEER, a non-governmental organisation based in Chennai, which insisted upon effective implementation of a policy framed in 2019.
Observing that the immediate need was to provide shelter to mentally challenged destitutes and vaccinate them against COVID-19, the judges directed the government to put to effective use a 10.5 acre facility available in Tiruvallur district and make sure that the inmates of that facility were vaccinated on priority.
Care at local-level
“There are…