Ire against Chandigarh Admin’s move: People with disabilities need dignified community living, not enclosed flats, say mental health experts

“Many of these people have moderate mental disabilities. They can live independently but need support sometimes. Those in their middle ages need a group home because their parents are getting old, and either they do not have any siblings or their siblings are do not live here. Some of these people sometimes end up on the streets as well. Hence, a group home is required to accommodate them. This can be similar to a senior citizens’ home with the added facility of having an in-house psychological counselor and a nurse,” said Dr Simmi Waraich, a renowned psychiatrist based in Chandigarh.

The family members of people with special needs also cited the Mental Healthcare Act 2017 which has provisions on community living. “My 42-year-old sister lives with schizophrenia, while my mother has bipolar disorder. Many other families like ours have been raising the demand for a group home with the UT Administration for the last three years but no concrete or viable solution has been offered to us yet,” said Megha Sood, a city resident.

She added, “Recently we came to know through the media that the UT Administration is proposing to turn a few flats in Maloya into a ‘separate enclosure’ for people with special needs. This is a very bad idea because such a facility will worsen the mental health of those housed there instead of improving it. They need open, green spaces for recuperation and recreational activities. Flats may be suitable for individuals living with their families, but not for community living in a group home.”

During Thursday’s press conference, Gurpreet Singh, a psychiatric social worker, shared his experience of getting training in the functioning of group homes in Bangalore. “We don’t have any such facility in this region, which is why many families from Chandigarh and Punjab have to go to cities like Bangalore or even abroad to get their kin accommodated. But not everyone can afford to do so,” he said.

The Administration had recently announced that a group home facility will be constructed on1.25 acres in Sector 34. The Citizens for Inclusive Living association, however, asserted that such a facility might take a long time to come up, while the needs of people with mental disabilities were urgent.

“We don’t have any information regarding the proposal because neither the families nor mental health experts were consulted regarding the same. But till the time such a facility comes up, these people should be accommodated at Indira Holiday Home, Sector 24, which is the only large community place in the city that has rooms and an open, green area. The place can also house senior citizens in one portion, with the green area being common,” said Neelu Sarin, President of Citizens for Inclusive Living.

A similar proposal, of setting up a ‘serenity therapeutic village’, has already been sent to the UT Administration with around 35 citizens also pledging a donation of Rs 20 lakh for the cause.