State’s Half-Way-Home initiative has proved to be a boon: Minister

Kolkata: The state government’s initiative of setting up Half-Way-Home (HWH) has proved to be a boon for the mental patients who have been declared medically fit in hospitals but unfortunately have no shelter of their own.

“Presently, there are two such HWH — one in Kolkata and another in Berhampore, Murshidabad. They have been named as ‘pratyay’ by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. There have been instances when persons have been declared medically fit for discharge, but for various reasons cannot be immediately restored to their families. HWH is meant for accommodating these people,” said Shashi Panja, state minister for Women and Child Development and Social Welfare, during the question answer session at the state Assembly, on Friday.

It was on July 7, 2022 when Banerjee had inaugurated ‘pratyay’, which has come up just opposite Lumbini Park Mental Hospital, near Bondel Gate. ‘Pratyay’ has the capacity to accommodate 50 male and same number of female residents belonging to the age group of 18-55 years, who were under treatment at Pavlov and Lumbini Park Mental Hospital, in Kolkata. The HWH at Berhampore caters to similar patients from mental hospitals in Cooch Behar, Purulia and Berhampore. “The HWHs are located close to hospitals so that its inmates can quickly be transferred to mental hospitals, in case of any emergency. There is a committee that determines patients who can be transferred to HWHs,” Panja said.

Speaker Biman Banerjee lauded the initiative of the state government. “I am not aware whether any other state in the country has similar facilities,” Banerjee said after Panja informed about the same.

The HWH is the joint initiative of state women & child development (W&CD) and social welfare department and state health and family welfare. The building and infrastructure for the home has been provided by the health department while it will be run by W&CD department. The state will bear the entire budget for running the Home. An NGO has been presently roped in by the state government for running these two HWHs.