Pune: The medical superintendent at Regional Mental Hospital, Yerawada, issued a show-cause notice to the cleaning contractor after videos showing inmates cleaning at the hospital surfaced online.In a notice issued on Friday, the RMH authorities said the contractor, M/s Lokrajya Swayamrojgar Seva Sahakari Sanstha Ltd., had been responsible for maintaining cleanliness at the facility since 2017 till March 31, 2026.The notice reads, “During the aforementioned period, videos depicting the cleaning of this hospital being carried out by psychiatric patient and alleging that you are engaging these patients for labour – have been circulated widely by your personnel across newspapers, television channels and social media platforms.““Consequently, this has resulted in an unwarranted defamation and is tarnishing of the reputation of the Regional Mental Hospital and by extension, that of the health department and the government,” it read, adding that, “Although the responsibility for maintaining cleanliness within this mental hospital rests entirely with you, the aforementioned videos clearly demonstrate that you are, in fact, utilizing psychiatric patients to perform cleaning duties.”A press statement issued by the RMH authoritiesstated that, “As per the agreement, the contractor was required to deploy adequate manpower, equipment and materials to ensure hygiene across wards, premises and other departments. Cleaning work was often carried out using limited manpower of around 30-35 workers and, at times, only basic methods like water cleaning were used, which was not as per contract conditions.“Dr Shrinivas Kolod, medical superintendent of RMH, said, “Several notices had been issued to the contractor over poor quality of work and non-compliance, but no satisfactory explanation was received. In the past, complaints were also raised regarding non-payment of minimum wages and failure to provide statutory benefits such as provident fund and other entitlements to workers.”Earlier, officials had stated that the contractor was paid only 35% of the dues based on actual work, frequency and use of materials as assessed by the hospital. The contractor later issued a notice on March 23, 2026, stating that services would be discontinued from April 1, 2026.The notice further mentioned that sharing images or videos of mental health patients violated provisions of the Mental Healthcare Act, 2017, and constitutes a serious offence. “The act of capturing and circulating such visuals without authorisation was a violation of patient rights and human dignity,” added Dr Kolod.According to officials, appropriate action would be taken against those found responsible as per the directions of senior authorities. The matter was being examined and legal steps may follow, he said.
