Summary:
Section 65(3) of Mental Health Care Act 2017 empowers the existing SMHA to provisionally register all mental health establishments and specify the minimum standards for different mental health establishments. Under the new guidelines notified by the L-G on September 18, each de-addiction centre will have to follow some minimum standards — including mandatory registration — before it can begin operations. (Source: Pixabay)Following the Lieutenant Governor’s nod to the guidelines for regulating de-addiction centres in the capital, the State Mental Health Authority (SMHA) has begun receiving applications for registration of such centres. The inspection comes after the HC, in May this year, had ordered a city-wide survey of private de-addiction centres to verify if people are being detained against their will. As reported by The Indian Express in June, a recent Delhi State Legal Services Authority (DSLSA) inspection of 124 de-addiction centres in Delhi found problems of detention, physical and mental torture and sexual abuse..