Bill To Decriminalise Attempt To Suicide Tabled In Lok Sabha

In support of a crucial bill seeking to decriminalise suicide and provide the right to better healthcare for people suffering from mental illness, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said that he has lived with a patient of mental illness and 'knows the pain.'

“I can tell you, Mr Chairman, from personal experience that there is nothing sadder than witnessing a close one, a loved one, with mental illness at close quarters. I have lived with a victim of mental illness… Very often such people are in a state of denial. They do not accept that they have a mental problem,” Tharoor said, according to a report by the Indian Express.

Tharoor called mental illness a complicated difficulty, 'extremely difficult to diagnose'. Sometimes, people as far as their appearances go seem perfectly healthy. They are happy. They come across as social beings while confronting painful inner battles,” he said.

The Congress MP called for a change in the way society perceives a mentally ill patient and the stigma attached to people seeking help for mental illness, adding that people suffering from any mental disorder carry the stigma that "ye toh pagal hai (he/she is mad)".

Citing certain figures and reports, Tharoor said women and children in mental hospitals were treated worse than animals. There were about 50 million people suffering from such problems in the country.

If someone visits a psychologist or a psychiatrist, instead of helping the person, people start distancing themselves from him or her, Tharoor said.

Explaining the grave situation, he said many people who are suffering from these problems live in a denial mode and "they are unwilling to seek help".

"Suicide is an issue," he said, adding there are so many things attached to this and one is unemployment. "There are no jobs in our economy today despite assurances from the Prime Minister," he said.

The Mental Healthcare Bill, which was passed by the Rajya Sabha with 134 official amendments in August last year, was moved for consideration and passage by Health Minister J P Nadda who said it was introduced in the Lower House after wide-ranging consultations with experts, academia and others.

"The bill empowers the patients for mental healthcare. It gives them the right so that he/she is not denied (treatment) or discriminated against. The focus is on community mental healthcare...It is a rights-based bill," Nadda said.

The measure provides that a person who attempts suicide shall be presumed to be suffering from mental illness at that time and will not be punished under the Indian Penal Code.

It also seeks to protect and promote the right of persons with mental illness during the delivery of healthcare in institutions and in the community.

A unique feature of the bill is that it allows adults to make an advance directive on how they wish to be treated in case they suffer from mental illness in future. Such a person can also choose a nominative representative who would take care of him or her, the Minister said.

It clearly defines mental illness and mental healthcare, he said, adding that the earlier definition was vague.

There are also provisions under which a person cannot be sterilised just because he or she is a mental patient. "As per this law, we cannot separate a child for three years... Also, one cannot chain a mentally-ill person," the Minister said.

"We tried to see that the patient is protected and no coercive methodology is adopted. Persons who will not adhere to it will be liable to penalty and imprisonment. This is a very progressive bill," he said.

The Bill focusses on community based treatment. Special provisions for women and health have also been provided for. Among the various objectives, it provides for ensuring healthcare, treatment and rehabilitation of persons with mental illness "in a manner that does not intrude on their rights and dignity."

India is a signatory to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, an international human rights treaty of the United Nations. Around 6-7 per cent of India's population suffers from some kind of mental illnesses, while 1-2 per cent suffer from acute mental disease.

Participating in the discussion on the bill, Congress member Shashi Tharoor said it was first brought in 2013 by then Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and it has taken so long for this government to bring it back.

Criticising the education system, Tharoor said there are no counsellors and there is a huge pressure on children that "pariksha pass karo (clear the exams)".

There is a need to make it mandatory for every educational institution to have counsellors and "this is the need of the hour," he said.

"We have to change the laws as well as the mindsets... this bill must be accompanied by better way of implementation of this law. Police should be trained that suicide is a cry for help. What we need is to ensure that people get help and assurance and back in happy and productive life," he added.

He also said that the number of psychiatrists are very less in the country. There is only one for five lakh people. "There are number of good things in the bill but there are also number of things out....Psychotherapists, psychoanalysts are not included in the bill. I request you to add these categories," he added.

Tharoor said there is a crying need for mental health professionals in the military also and said "I hope the government allocated sufficient resources for this bill."

Apparently referring to yesterday's incident of a Shiv Sena MP assaulting an Air India staffer, he said when "we talk about such persons", there are also incidents where an airline staffer has misbehaved with mentally ill people.

Heena Gavit (BJP) welcomed the bill when the Chair took up the next item on the agenda. The debate would continue next week.

(With inputs from PTI)