The state has 32 posts for psychiatrists in two grades in these four hospitals in Thane, Pune, Nagpur and Ratnagiri.
RTI activist Jeetendra Ghadge of The Young Whistleblowers Foundation found the Thane Mental Hospital has no psychiatrist class 1 or 2 although there are eight sanctioned positions. “It’s the same story in Ratnagiri, where two sanctioned posts are vacant,” he said.
Nagpur hospital has three psychiatrists working out of nine, while Pune has one out of 13 posts. “It is shocking to consider that there are so few psychiatrists to run our psychiatric hospitals,” she added.
State public health officials said every psychiatric hospital has adequate medical officers who are psychiatrists to care for patients. The problem is that periodic interviews for promotions have not been held due to bureaucratic delays.
Dr. Padmaja Jogewar, in charge of the state health department’s programs for non-communicable diseases, said: “Soon we will be interviewing through MPSC to fill vacancies, but there are psychiatrists in these hospitals to see patients.”
the problem in Maharashtra it reflects the shortage of psychiatrists across the country, with estimates suggesting 6,000 for the country’s 138 crore population.
Ghadge said vacancies at higher levels indicate there is a “serious mental health crisis” in Maharashtra, which is among the most suicidal in the country. “There are thousands of new patients who are unable to access treatment due to poor infrastructure and lack of manpower. Also, patients in these hospitals are stuck for years without rehabilitation or return home,” she said.
Dr. Harish Shetty, attached to Hiranandani Hospital in Powai, said the government should provide incentives for psychiatrists to take jobs in psychiatric hospitals. “On the one hand, we could turn these hospitals into medical schools so that psychiatrists are more willing to join. You could also bring in doctors from the private sector to teach and treat. Public-private partnerships being attempted in other sectors they should be tested here as well,” Dr. Shetty said.
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