6 Jan, Lalitpur: A psychiatric hospital will be built within the Nakhu Jail premises in view of the increasing number of inmates suffering from psychological disorders.
The hospital with 25 beds will be built in the next two years and completed by the Nepali month of Asar in 2075 BS. The Prison Management Procedure, 2073 has specified arrangement for one senior consultant psychiatric doctor including 12 employees for the hospital.
According to the prison, 20 per cent of the total inmates in the prison suffer from psychiatric disorders. Many jailbirds with psychological problems in the prisons across the country are also transferred to Nakhu Jail as it is located closest to the Mental Hospital Nepal at Lagankhel.
Jailer Tek Bahadur KC said the Department of Prison Management has been transferring the prisoners to the Nakhu Jail from different districts’ prisons. Many prisons in the districts think that the hospital has already been set up, he shared. “There are many who come for treatment in Patan, but even though the foundation is still being laid for the hospital, many prisons send their inmates thinking that the hospital has already been constructed,” KC added.
The prison hospital will also provide treatment for other illness apart from the mental disorders.
The Nakhu Jail currently houses 650 inmates. A new building was recently constructed with a capacity for 115 inmates and brought into operation last year. Two new blocks with total space for 250 more inmates will also be built while work is progressing for construction of a prison for housing 100 women inmates. RSS
