Bill to decriminalise suicide, provide mental healthcare in Lok Sabha

New Delhi: A crucial bill seeking to decriminalise suicide and provide the right to better healthcare for people suffering from mental illness today found all-round support in the Lok Sabha.

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.

It found support from the opposition, though the debate on it remained inconclusive.

"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 chose 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.