Assam to appoint team of psychiatrists in jails
In a significant move, the state prisons department has embarked upon an ambitious plan to attach a dedicated team of psychiatrist and psychologists with all the 31 jails in the state for inmates.
Pointing out that a dedicated team of such doctors was necessary for those who have been sentenced imprisonment for a long duration, authorities involved in prisons said that majority of jail inmates have been suffering from mental health issues.
Informing that the state prisons department has already submitted a proposal to the home and political departments asking to create new posts for mental health experts ( psychiatrist and psychologists) for each of the jails in the state,. Security sources said that the experts would also be engaged to offer correctional
psychiatric treatment to the inmates on need basis after systematic periodical screening.
Referring as to how jail inmates are passing through traumatic situation while languishing in the judicial custody, sources in the state prisons said, “Now a days mental health condition has become a major issue in the prisons. To put an effective mental care intervention in place, we need a dedicated team of experts backed by an
equally robust support system.”
Pointing out that most of the inmates find it tough to cope with the separation from their loved ones, sources said that the issues like anger management and stress management has become very crucial.
Though, there is a provision to have mental experts for jail but in absence of any dedicated team, enrolment of a few experts have failed to address the problem.