World Mental Health Day,organised

Posted by On October 10, 2019 0 Comment

Chandigarh
10th October, 2019
On the occasion of World Mental Health Day, State Legal Services Authority in Association with Department of Psychiatry, Government Medical College and Hospital, Sec 32, Chandigarh organized training program for Panel Lawyers on the provisions of Mental Health Care Act, 2017 in the Chandigarh Judicial Academy, Sec 43, Chandigarh.
The resource person for the program included Dr.Subash Das, Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry, Government Medical College and Hospital, Sec 32, Chandigarh and Ms.ShikhaTyagi, Department of Psychiatry, Government Medical College and Hospital, Sec 32, Chandigarh and Sh. Mahavir Singh, Member Secretary, State Legal Services Authority.
Dr.Subash Das spoke about the basic provisions of the Act and dwelled upon certain Revisions made from the Mental Health Act 1987. In particular he spoke about The Mental Healthcare Act 2017 aims at decriminalising the Attempt to Commit Suicide by seeking to ensure that the individuals who have attempted suicide are offered opportunities for rehabilitation from the government as opposed to being tried or punished for the attempt. He also spoke about the fact that the Act has restricted the usage of Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) to be used only in cases of emergency, and along with muscle relaxants and anaesthesia.
Sh. MahavirSingh, spoke about the Role and responsibilities of various agencies as provided under the Act. He spoke about the responsibility of the police under Section 100 to rescue any person found with Mental Illness and wandering.
Ms.ShikhaTyagi spoke about the rights of Persons with Mental Illness that have been provided under the said Act. She spoke about the fact that the Act recognises the agency of people with mental illness, allowing them to make decisions regarding their health, given that they have the appropriate knowledge to do so. She also informed the audience that the Act aims to safeguard the rights of the people with mental illness, along with access to healthcare and treatment without discrimination from the government.
Almost 100 lawyers and 20 social workers participated in the said program and interacted with the resource persons. Also present during the function were Sh. Amarinder Sharma, CJM cum Secretary, District Legal Services Authority, Sh. V. K. Kapoor, Chief Coordinator, NALSA Schemes, Sh. VivekTrivedi, Municipal Corporation and Sh Neil Roberts, Coordinator, DLSA.