Built at cost of Rs 35 crore, group home building in Chandigarh's Sector 31 awaits occupants

A new group home building in Sector 31, built by the Chandigarh Admiration at a cost of nearly Rs 35 crore, for persons with intellectual disabilities and mental illness is awaiting occupants.

Last-minute preparations are on in the two-storey building, result of a long struggle by families, mostly parents, of persons with intellectual disabilities and mental illness. Many parents, mostly old and some of them single, have been demanding a group home with various facilities for their wards for the past many years. A paid facility, it has suites (Rs 35,000 monthly rent), single rooms (Rs 25,000) and twin-sharing rooms (Rs 16,000). Twentyfive per cent of the seats (17) have been reserved for EWS patients who will have to pay 50 per cent rent for a double room (Rs 8,000).

In a governing body meeting in May and at an executive committee meeting held in July, the Administration had agreed to some of the demands by such parents. These included relaxation in stay or domicile criteria for UT residents from 10 to three years, reducing number of nurses from 12 to six and increasing the strength of counsellor-cum psychiatric social worker from two to four.

Most parents though still remain worried about the hefty security deposit and some other issues, including monthly rent for EWS patients, day care-cum-vocational activities that they want to be conducted at group home and not GRIID, staff recruitment and training and split ACs instead of window ACs.

Information from RTIs filed by some parents reveal that the Administration has decided to fix Rs 20 lakh for all room categories (upfront charges for five years), but is yet to decide if any security deposit will be charged from EWS patients.

The UT Social Welfare Department, responsible for the group home’s functioning, had recently decided to reduce the security deposit to half, but parents still find the reduced amount unaffordable. Sources in the department say any further reduction is not possible.

Aditya Vikram Ramtera, sibling of a person with mental illness and an executive committee member, has been vociferous about the unaffordable security charge. “No group home across India has such exorbitant security deposit. Most take deposit between three months to one year of monthly charges.” Ramtera and many other parents are also worried as the Administration has not even started the process of hiring counsellors and other staff despite the fact that the group home was scheduled to start functioning in October.

Exasperated at the lack of progress, Ramtera’s NGO, Citizens for Inclusive Living, has offered to bear expenses of training four counsellors at a Bengaluru-based such facility, which has been accepted by the Administration.

Parents also fear that if the group home is not functional soon, the Administration may put it to some other use. They have been frequently meeting Anuradha Chagti, Secretary, Social Welfare, who has taken charge in June, about their demands.

Chagti said, “Their demand for day care-cum-vocational activities at the group home is under consideration. I am very keen and hopeful that the group home will start soon. Any new project will face teething troubles, but I am sure we will be able resolve it.”

Sources in the department say efforts are on to make the group home self-sustainable through CSR funding and other means. The group home has already been registered as a society, Utthan, and the department will apply for 80G certificate to provide income tax deductions to donors. In case of any fund crunch, EWS patients can be adjusted at the Half Way Home under Mental Health Institute at DART building, Sector 32, for some time, added sources.

Rajni Sood, mother and sole care giver of an adult son with intellectual disabilities and governing body member of the group home society, said, “We have asked the Social Welfare Department to conduct awareness programmes for families on pending issues.”

Another parent and governing body member Dina Singh said, “These awareness programmes should help overcome communication gap between families and Administration and hopefully the group home starts functioning soon.”