India, June 26 -- In a first-of-its-kind initiative, the District Legal Services Authority (DLSA) and Mental Health Review Board (MHRB) of the Regional Mental Hospital (RMH) in Yerawada have decided to take strong legal steps to reunite long-stay patients with their families, especially in cases where the families are unwilling to accept them despite benefitting from their income and property, officials said.

According to RMH officials, the hospital has as many as 40 long-stay patients - 25 female and 15 male - who have recovered significantly, and are stable and fit to return to their homes but continue to remain in the hospital. In all these cases, the families were contacted by the hospital and even the police were involved. However, ...