A dedicated building for male in-patients at pioneering mental health institute SAN-KER was formally inaugurated today by the Secretary of the North Eastern Council.
The building was 90 per cent funded by the NEC, with the state government providing the remaining 10 per cent. Spread across four storeys, the building is kitted out with beds for patients in dormitory style, private rooms, nurse’s stations, bathrooms, a physiotherapy room, hall, etc.
NEC Secretary K Moses Challai cut the ribbon in the presence of East Khasi Hills Deputy Commissioner Isawanda Laloo, former Chief Secretary WMS Pariat, former Commissioner and Secretary Peter S Dkhar, Additional Director of Health Services Dr Y Phira and others.
In his speech, Challai congratulated SAN-KER founder-director Dr Sandi Syiem and the team for their work and sacrifice in caring for the mentally ill.
“I appreciate the work and sacrifice that is happening and will happen here in future. We live in an imperfect world and people who need special care often do not get it. Unless you have a full heart and commitment then you can’t do this kind of work and I express my appreciation for those that do,” he said, adding that society is becoming more open to the needs of others and the NEC is happy to have been a part of this project.
He further stated that any new projects can be fully funded by the NEC and will not necessarily require a state government contribution.
Ground on the project was broken in 2017 under the previous NEC Secretary, Ram Muivah. Dr Syiem stated that it took many years just to get that far but construction also went beyond the two-year timeline due to delays on the part of the government in releasing funds.
An emotional Dr Syiem also recounted how SAN-KER began almost exactly 32 years ago in converted cowsheds.
“On the day I thought of starting something like SAN-KER my friends told me that I was crazy,” he said. At the beginning, in June 1990, there were only five beds for women and five for men.
Since then, the capacity has increased to around 400, with many patients living in SAN-KER for years, such is the nature of mental illness.
When it began in 1990, it was not just the novelty of a mental health institute – for such things were rare in the North East, let alone India – but the location.
Back then there was no road to the site in Mawlai Mawroh. But, with the Chief Minister of the day agreeing to open it, the Public Works Department fashioned a road for the CM. However, heavy rain the day before washed it away and the CM trekked to the converted cowsheds through slush and mud from Golf Links.
As a condition of the NEC funding, 10 percent of the beds in the male ward are free of cost. SAN-KER has also receive other support from the state government and Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs that ensures that even more beds are available at no charge to the patients or their families.
Dr Syiem also paid tribute to former CM Dr Mukul Sangma for granting state government funding in 2017 and the architect Aiban S Makhroh, who “designed the buildings here so that they merge with the environment” of the institute, which is dominated by flowering plants, bamboo, trees and a fish pond.
Meanwhile, Dr Phira also congratulated Dr Syiem for his vision that led him to establish SAN-KER and “bridge the gap in terms of manpower for psychiatric care”.
