Soumya Guha Thakurta reports on the protest meet against ill-treatment of mentally ill patients at the West Bengal state government-run Pavlov Institute and Mental Hospital, Kolkata. The protest meet was organised by ANJALI and SRUTI DISABILITY on15th March, 2008, in front of the Academy of Fine Arts, Kolkata, at 5 pm.

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The gathering was one of hardly 50 people, a pointer to the concern for 'pure' human rights (as distinct from civil or political rights) in this supposed habitat of the concerned intellectual.
 
The meeting started with a description by Sri Bireshwar, son in law of Smt. Jibonprobha Mukhopadhyay, of his experience at Pavlov. The lady was admitted to Pavlov in early 2007 and on the day of admission the welfare officer there commented, 'so you have come to garage her here'. Post admission, they were allowed fortnightly visits to meet the patient and, as per Sri Bireshwar, the deterioration of the patient's health was there for all to see. There came a time when the patient lost her capacity to walk. Clothes were always scant and the best was a gown without buttons. Soon enough the patient developed lice in he hair and had sores all over her body. A serious allegation made by Sri Bireshwar was the recurring theft of patients' personal belongings and their medicines and that these find their way into neighbourhood shops. Sri Bireshwar has been called for a hearing by the State Human Rights Commission and he also intends to file a petition at the chief minister's office.

The next to speak was Sri Shubhro, a person suffering from schizophrenia, who had spent some time in Pavlov hospital in 2004. He seconded the experience of Sri Bireshwar. He said that the treatment there was cruel, there was regular beating of inmates and worms in the food. Female patients were worse off and they were kept in a state of undress even in 2004.
 
Next was a representative of 'Disabled Employees Association'. He lamented that the inmates of state mental hospitals are worse off vis a vis animals in Alipore zoo. He felt that the basic malady was the rule that one could visit the patient once every fortnight and that this rule should be changed to permit daily visits for relatives of inmates.
 
Dr. Amit Ranjan Bose, a psychiatrist, spoke last. He said whatever is being written about now is nothing new and he has been seeing this for the last 15 years, in the course of his work. He said that the whole health care system is rotten from the inside and ought to be discarded. Tax payer's money is spent to provide employment to hordes of people who hardly have any commitment to health care.