Azaadi dil ki: Long wait for cured women to be discharged from mental institutes

HYDERABAD: As the saying goes, opportunities do not knock twice. And the 50-year-old woman lodged in the Female Closed Ward of Institute of Mental Health at Erragadda in the city, being very well aware of the opportunity that was golden, gathered herself and ran towards the commissioner and director of municipal administration TK Sreedevi. Calm and composed, she spoke in fluent English and pleaded for help. She sought a job and reintegration into the mainstream society.

It has been more than six months since the woman in question was declared fit to be discharged. Yet, because of certain constraints, she could not go back to her family in Qatar. She wished to live in Hyderabad with a job, which was not easy to find.

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Sreedevi, who also holds a Masters in Psychology, spoke to her and several other women only to find that there are at least 98 more people who were declared fit to be discharged but have no place to go. For periods ranging between six months and five years, they all have been awaiting their release in spite of the green signal to go home.

All of them can now hope to live a life outside the confines of the institute, and get reintegrated into mainstream society as a decision was taken to construct a rehabilitation home and provide them with skills which help them to earn livelihood. The CDMA, who is also the chairperson of IMH’s Hospital Development Society (HDS), took the decision to construct a shelter home on the campus where people can stay for long duration of time. A meeting of HDS members was held on Monday when the issues at the institute were discussed.

“Alongside, we will map their skill sets based on their qualifications and by going through their case sheets. Thereafter, we will provide them with skills suitable for them by tying them up with ongoing Mission for Elimination of Poverty in Municipal Areas (MEPMA) skill development programmes,” said Sreedevi, who is also the mission director of MEPMA. People aged between 25 and 70 years and have recovered from their mental illnesses are waiting to become part of the mainstream society. While some of them have rich experience in farming, some are lecturers, biomedical engineers and graduates. One of the women cleared for discharge told the senior official that she was a graduate and aspired to crack the civil services examination.

In addition to patients from different parts of Telangana, those from Bihar and Gujarat in India and even other countries are admitted to the institute here. Officials and staff at the hospital said that either because their families are not willing to take them back or the inmates do not disclose the correct address of their homes, their reintegration with families becomes a difficult task and they continue to languish at IMH. However, some of them said they were yearning to lead a life outside institute. This has been a long standing issue which was highlighted by this newspaper in October 2017.

“It is sheer waste of government resources, tax-payers’ money, and time by staying at IMH. Instead, if skills are imparted to those who are cleared for discharge, it will be a help to us as we can experience our freedom,” said a  person (name withheld) who is lodged in the Male Ward and now cleared to be discharged. The same opinion is echoed by other inmates in the male and female closed wards. The woman who spoke to the municipal administration director said, “I wish to do a job and live outside the institute in Hyderabad.”