Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has directed the Health department to fill the staff vacancies at the Government Mental Health Centre, Kozhikode, in a month. The number of security personnel will be raised from four to 24 by creating 20 additional posts.
These were part of the steps suggested to improve the condition of the facility, at an online meeting held on Monday.
The centre has been in news for wrong reasons of late, with a number of inmates attempting an escape, and a woman inmate being found dead following an altercation. The inadequate security measures and staff shortage there came in for criticism, along with the delay in clearing the master plan proposed for its development. It was pointed out that only four security personnel, that too daily wage staff, were present to attend to over 400 inmates, including women. There were no women security staff either. The centre was set up in the 19 th century. The institution still has a staff pattern devised in 1961 and the buildings are quite old.
