Govt nod for amendments to NIMHANS Bill

Bangalore-based National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS) is all set to be re-constituted as a body corporate with all properties currently with the Union health ministry being transferred to the institute.

The Union Cabinet, at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, approved the amendments to the NIMHANS, Bangalore Bill 2010 based on the recommendations of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health and Family Welfare. While the Cabinet rejected the Committee’s suggestion against incorporation of the institute as a body corporate, it accepted the suggestions on composition of the institute. “No change in Clause 4 (Incorporation of Institute) of the Bill is proposed in view of the legal advice obtained from the Department of Legal Affairs,” Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni told reporters here. She said the Central Government will nominate the president of the institute from among the members other than the director.

The original Bill had proposed that the Union Health Minister be the president of the institute, a proposal opposed by the Parliamentary Standing Committee which stressed that a political person should not head the institute. The NIMHANS, Bangalore Bill 2010, which was introduced in the Rajya Sabha on December 7 last year, proposes to declare the institute as an institution of national importance. As per the amendments approved by the Cabinet, the institute shall consist of the chief secretary or his nominee, not below the rank of secretary, to the government of Karnataka, ex-officio.