Odisha Has Over 1.15 Lakh Mentally Handicapped Persons: Minister

Bhubaneswar: Social Security & Empowerment of Persons with Disability Minister Ashok Chandra Panda in the Odisha Assembly today informed that in 2011 there are as many as 1,15,236 mentally handicapped (mentally ill and mentally retarded) persons in the State.

In a written reply to a question by a BJD lawmaker from Kotpad Padmini Dian, Panda told that for the treatment of mentally handicapped persons, there are 30 district-level Mental Health Cells which have psychiatrists and psychologists.

They provide medical treatment, medicines and counselling to mentally ill patients in hospitals and gram sabhas, he added.

Panda said that from the year 2016-17 to 2022 there are a total of 84,662 mentally ill patients in the State.

These patients are provided with free medicine, diagnosis and patient care are provided through Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana (BSKY), he added.