The prisons directorate is planning to launch telehealth and video consultations for mentally-ill jail inmates. A panel of psychiatrists from Bhubaneswar andCuttackwill be roped in for the service.
The prisons directorate has requested the Health department to consider the proposal on a priority basis as theOrissahigh court earlier asked the jail authorities to immediately address the issues of mental illness of prisoners.
The number of prisoners, suffering from mental illness, has been rising steadily in the state. This was revealed in the Prison Statistics India-2020 released by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).