The mental dynamic

Ms Singh's book makes it clear that India's Mental Healthcare Act, 2017, builds on a long legacy of efforts to advocate for rights-based institutional care

Asylum: The Battle for Mental Healthcare in India

Author: Daman Singh

Publisher: Westland

Pages: 184

Price: Rs 499

How did mental illness become a public health priority in India? Who was responsible for initiating reforms in mental hospitals, formerly known as lunatic asylums? To what extent were these shifts catalysed by the decline of British rule in India? If these questions interest you, read Daman Singh’s new book Asylum: The Battle for Mental Healthcare in India.

Ms Singh, who has made a sincere attempt to tell “the story of asylum reform in India” with this work of non-fiction, writes, “When it comes to maladies of the