Cooked food should be properly stored in stainless steel containers and served soon after cooking in steel utensils; cooked food should be transported by a trolley and not manually as in the case in most of the hospitals; food should not be exposed or served in the open space; dining facilities including dining hall and dining tables should be available and designed to ensure there is no over crowding and that it is not too far from where the inpatients reside and that the service is smooth and prompt; washing of hand and feet of patients before they settle down to food to ensure personal hygiene; serving of food with a human touch to ensure that while old, infirm and disabled patients are assisted to take food, there is no wastage of food; Soft music should be played at the time of serving food; Care must be taken to check the food quality to ensure that it is not under-cooked or burnt; the timing for breakfast, lunch, evening tea and dinner should be such that the gap between two consecutive meals is not too long; the menu should be prepared for the whole week but should be altered daily to ensure variety; separate menu for those not doing any physical activity and those engaged in physical activity in the occupational therapy units; the dining room and tables should be kept clean and free of flies and cockroaches; Proper arrangement should be made for medical examination of cooks once in six months; scientific storage of food grains (rice, wheat, atta, flour, besan, suji, idli, rawa, sugar, edible oil, condiments/spices, fruits and vegetables with arrangement for adequate lighting, ventilation and pest control; storage of LPG cylinders; change of aprons for cooks. The position as it stands in different mental health institutions is as under: The Institute of Mental Health (IMH), Hyderabad (19th and 20th July, 2010) There was a dietician to oversee the process of cooking and serving food. Diet Indent book and diet distribution registers were maintained. According to dietician assessment, the nutritive value of served food to the patients was 3339.3 kilo calorie per patient per day against an allocation of Rs. 28 per day. The timings for serving breakfast, lunch and dinner were: breakfast 7 AM to 8 AM, lunch 12 Noon to 1 PM and dinner 6 PM to 7 PM. This was leaving a huge gap of 12 hours between dinner and breakfast which might cause gastric problems. It is difficult to accept that the nutritive value of food is 3339.3 kilo calorie with barely an allocation of Rs 28 per patient per day towards diet unless the food grains, vegetables and fruits are available at throw away prices. The dietician needs to work out the nutritive value measurable in kilo calorie separately for all the components/items allotted/consumed in breakfast, lunch and dinner and paste it on the walls of the kitchen and dining hall. The hospital does not have any agricultural estate like RINPAS Ranchi and is buying food grains and other essential commodities from the open market at high prices. Keeping in view the limited purchasing power of allocation of Rs 28 per Care and Treatment in Mental Health Institutions– Some Glimpses in the Recent Period 75