Kerala panel seeks stronger support for abandoned patients

The Kerala State Human Rights Commission urged authorities to expand destitute care facilities across districts, following reports of abandoned hospital patients, and recommended strengthening welfare schemes under the Social Justice Department Kerala

Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala rights panel on Tuesday urged the state authorities to take a sympathetic decision on a Social Justice Department recommendation to establish at least one institution in every district to care for patients abandoned in hospitals.

The direction was issued by the state Human Rights Commission Chairperson Justice Alexander Thomas while considering a case registered on its own based on media reports about patients being deserted in government hospitals and left to suffer without care.

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The Commission also called for expanding the “destitute welfare” scheme to all districts by providing grants to more voluntary organisations to protect vulnerable persons, including those wandering on the streets and patients who are not taken back by relatives even after recovery. Instructions in this regard have been issued to the Secretary and Director of the Social Justice Department, according to a statement issued by the Commission.

As per a report submitted by the Department, grants are already being provided to voluntary organisations under the scheme to care for the destitute. Such institutions are currently functioning in Thiruvananthapuram, Ernakulam and Kozhikode districts, while a proposal has been submitted to set up a similar facility in Kannur.

The report further noted that although there are 16 government-run old age homes and around 600 institutions under the Orphanage Control Board, the lack of adequate human resources to care for bedridden patients has limited the services that can be provided, the statement added.