People often stay away from a mentally ill person in the streets or public places, but a small act of care and attention can go a long way in their recovery, said Dr. NTR University of Health Sciences (Dr. NTRUHS) Registrar V. Radhika Reddy.

Speaking at the annual impact meeting of the Manobandhu Foundation, an organisation that works on identification, treatment, and rehabilitation of wandering mentally ill people in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, in Vijayawada on Saturday, Dr. Radhika Reddy said there is a need for awareness about the procedure to be followed when they spot a mentally ill person in the streets.

“The governments acknowledge the role played by NGOs, organisations in ensuring that such people receive proper treatment and are reunited with their families. While treatment is one aspect, tracing their families and sending them back home is a difficult task,” Dr. Radhika Reddy said, while appreciating the efforts of the volunteers of Manobandhu Foundation.

Later, Indian Psychiatric Society’s former national president Indla Ramasubba Reddy explained the legal hurdles involved in the rescue operations of mentally ill people.

“When you see a person with mental illness on the road, you should inform the nearest police station. The police have to file a missing FIR and take them to the nearest government hospital. But there is not much awareness among police about it,” he said.

He said while there are 15 lakh people with mental illness wandering in the streets of India, there are not many to take care of them. “We have organisations and volunteers working for the protection of birds or street dogs, but not many to take care of humans,” he said.

“There is no awareness among people about mental illnesses. First, a family does not realise it is mental illness that their loved one is going through. They take them to all the wrong places, before giving up on them. The individual, thus neglected, ends up in streets,” he said, adding that another reason is that there are not many psychiatrists. If treatment is given, there are high chances of recovery, Dr. Ramasubba Reddy, who is one of the trustees of the Foundation, said.

He stressed the need for one more hospital in A.P., in addition to the two government hospitals in Visakhapatnam and Kadapa for mental care.

Foundation’s Managing Trustee, B. Ramakrishnamraju, said in the year 2024-25, 121 people were admitted to hospitals, 27 people reunited with their families and eight people are rehabilitated in shelter homes. Manobandhu has partnered with Shraddha Rehabilitation Foundation, Mumbai, led by Ramon Magsaysay Awardee Bharat Vatwani, to facilitate reunions across the country.

A.P. Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Potluri Bhaskara Rao, GSL Educational Institutions, Rajamahendravaram, chairman Ganni Bhaskara Rao, Foundation Trustee D. Chakrapani also spoke on the occasion.