CHENNAI: The Madras High Court has ordered that people with intellectual disabilities do not need to be taken to a hospital to obtain a certificate about their mental health. Instead, they should receive certificates at the door. The evaluation process should be streamlined and should not cause any difficulty or trauma to the individual in question.
Judge GR Swaminathan said: “I take judicial note of the fact that taking such people to a congested place like the government hospital would cause considerable stress and anxiety. One does not know what can trigger panic and anxiety. …It is clinically appropriate that the evaluation for the issuance of said certificates be carried out at home”.
The order was approved in a petition filed by TR Ramanathan of West Mambalam seeking orders to the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) to issue his 61-year-old son Saikumar a “certificate of mental retardation”.
When he approached the IMH, the management insisted on the physical presence of Saikumar, who had difficulty walking. Nevertheless, he was taken to the hospital, but the management wanted his presence a second time. Noting that Saikumar’s evaluation had already been done at the IMH facilities, the judge noted that insisting that he be brought back to the institute “smells of arbitrariness.”
“Therefore, I order the second defendant (IMH) to issue the certificate certifying that the petitioner’s son suffers from a permanent mental disability, that is, mental retardation,” he said. The judge wanted the government to issue a standard protocol to cover cases of other disabilities, particularly motor-related physical disabilities, and suggested that the Illem Thedi Kalvi model could be applied to the assessment and issuance of disability certificates.
TN could boast of having one of the best health infrastructures in the country. “When community certificates are received at the door, can’t the State apply the same model in the case of people with disabilities as well?” she asked.
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