mentally ill persons. For instance, there is an ardent need to educate and change public attitude towards mental illness and in advocating for the rights of people with mental disorders. In addition, there is need to train more mental health professionals, who are in dearth in this country in order to ensure that mentally ill persons have access to good quality mental health services at each level of the health care system. The Government should also put in place a disability legislation, which does not ignore the rights of people with mental disorders since they are more vulnerably placed in the society. Such legislation should empower them to make choices about their lives, provide them legal protection and ensure their full participation in the community in consonance with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disability. This publication is a compilation of visit reports undertaken by the Special Rapporteur of the Commission to mental health care institutions from 2009 to 2011. The compilation will indeed give us an opportunity to assess the improvements that have taken place in the field of mental health care and treatment in India during these recent years. I am sure this publication will be of immense use to government officers and functionaries of health ministry/departments, mental health professionals, academic and technical institutions, non-governmental and civil society organizations and other stakeholders. (K.G. Balakrishnan) 6 National Human Rights Commission