The High Court of Karnataka on Wednesday directed the State Government to upgrade the Dharwad Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (DIMHANS) as higher centre for psychiatry by March 1, 2022.
Delay due to lack of fund or any other reason should not be there when the government has decided to upgrade the institute to a higher centre for psychiatry at a cost of ₹75 crore while making a provision of ₹10 crore in the 2021-22 Budget, the court said.
A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi and Justice Sachin shankar Magadum issued the directions while hearing a PIL petition, filed in 1996 by the Karnataka State Legal Services Authority, through which the court is monitoring facilities being provided to treat mentally ill persons across the state.
The government should take all the steps expeditiously to make DIMHANS a higher centre for psychiatry by March 2022 by following all norms that are required to be adhered to while setting up a higher centre for psychiatry, the court said.
MRI machine
While giving time till March 1, for the government to import and install an MRI machine at DIMHANS, the Bench said it was not at all satisfied with the explanation given by the Principal Secretary, Medical Education Department, for delay in procuring the machine.
The court had on March 5, 2020, set a deadline of six weeks for the government to procure the MRI machine, and during last couple of days, the Bench had pulled up the officers for not complying with the court’s directions even after 18 months.