Below 4k plaints with 8 mental health review boards since ’21

Mumbai: Less than 4,000 complaints were lodged with the eight Mental Health Review Boards (MHRBs) set up by the state health department in November 2021 under the mandate of the Mental Healthcare Act (2017).
"Each of the review boards must have roughly heard 500 complaints filed by patients, families, doctors, mental hospitals, the police, among others," said state Director of Health Services Dr Swapnil Lale.The boards should be used more often, he said, adding that it would reflect better awareness of mental health and rights of patients concerned.
As per the central Mental Healthcare Act, a six-member review board has to be set up in each district of the country. Maharashtra set up three boards in such manner that they function from regional mental hospitals in Thane, Pune, and Nagpur. The other five boards are located in Kolhapur, Nashik, Akola, Latur, and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar.
"Each board has a Chief Judicial Magistrate and state officials as well as representatives from the medical fraternity and civil society," said Dr Lale. The board's main functions include looking into aspects of hospitalisation, treatment plans, and acting as a redressal forum for violation of rights. The state has also set up the state-equivalent of National Legal Services Authority that is mandated to provide free legal aid to people with mental illness. Maharashtra State Legal Services Authority is located in Bombay High Court, and the state has also set up district-level legal services authorities.
Psychiatrist Dr Harish Shetty, who filed a PIL in high court about recovered patients who languish in the state's mental hospitals as their families have abandoned them, said the state should start a support group for patients to help in their rehabilitation. "Has the state filled up all vacant posts in hospitals? What about issues of patients who have no close relatives? And are the review boards looking at complaints of patients whose stays are extended?" he said.