Legal Services to Mentally ill and Mentally Disabled: A Critical Analysis of The Government Schemes

Persons with disabilities, particularly those suffering from mental illness or who are intellectually retarded, are marginalized, and the study focused on the individual who need special protection from the state and, more significantly, society. The Mental Health Act of 1987 and the National Trust for the Welfare of Persons with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Mental Retardation, and Multiple Disabilities Act of 1999 are two pieces of legislation. India is also a signatory to the UN Agreement on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and one of the countries that has ratified the convention, making it our legal system's responsibility to protect the human rights and fundamental liberties of people with disabilities. The Legal Services Authorities Act of 1978 and the NALSA (Legal Services to the Mentally Ill and Mentally Disabled Persons) Scheme of 2015 provide for the provision of legal services to the mentally ill and mentally disabled. These legal services are offered to patients in psychiatric hospitals, homes, and facilities by lawyers who have been trained to advocate the best interests of mentally ill people. Organizing awareness initiatives in distant areas of the country to educate people that mental illness is curable and that they must be treated equally with other members of society is one of the scheme's various objectives. As a result, in this study, the researcher has attempted to critically assess the schemes that have been developed through various statutes adopted for the benefit of mentally ill persons, as well as their impact on society and its evolution over time