Candlelight protest held to oppose Chandigarh Group Home conversion

Local residents opposing the conversion of the Group Home, Sector 31, held a candle-light march to protest against the decision of the UT Administration.

Over 40 persons with disabilities, their families, students and concerned citizens gathered today in the Sector 17 plaza to protest. They also took out a candle-light march to express their solidarity for the rights of persons with disabilities.

In December 2025, the UT Social Welfare Department unilaterally decided to segregate and send the EWS applicants eligible for free seats to the makeshift small group home above the Senior Citizens Home, Sector 15. However, recently on May 7, the UT Social Welfare Department suddenly announced the conversion of nearly half of the Group Home building in Sector 31 into a paid senior citizens’ home. None of these decisions were discussed or agreed upon in the official meetings of the UT Administration’s UTTHAAN Society for Group Home.

“Our worst fears regarding the Group Home diversion have come true. Many families knew since 2023 that the UT Social Welfare Department was not interested in fulfilling its legal duty of running the Group Home. That’s why they first came up with an exorbitant security deposit of Rs 20-40 lakh to dissuade the prospective applicants. After the high court’s intervention, the security deposit was reduced to Rs 3-Rs 6 lakh a few months ago, but the harassment of prospective applicants continued in other ways. And now this blatant violation of diverting the building use to an altogether different purpose,” said Satish Kumar, 83-year-old father and sole caregiver to his son having a severe mental illness.

“This sudden change of the Group Home building use was never discussed in the UTTHAAN Society for Group Home meeting. In fact, there has been no meeting of the society since November 2025. There are several families in the Tricity which are actively seeking help of a psychologist or a counsellor to prepare their children for Group Home admission. It is extremely unfair and insensitive to give such a short application window to prospective families. Also, we have repeatedly raised the issue of lack of awareness programmes for mental health professionals in Chandigarh. It is only logical and fair to keep the admissions open for the Tricity residents for at least six months after conducting an awareness programme”, said BK (Simmi) Waraich, a senior psychiatrist and a governing body member of the UTTHAAN Society for Group Home.

“Segregating the EWS families undermines their dignity and reinforces social stigma. The UT Administration must ensure an integrated and inclusive Group Home facility in Sector 31, where all EWS applicants are admitted without any discrimination on the basis of economic status and have equal access to community living as mandated by The Mental Healthcare Act, 2017 (Section 19)”, said Upneet Kaur Mangat, chairperson, Centre for Human Rights and Duties, Punjab University, Chandigarh.

“Had there been a more transparent and sensitive approach by the UT Social Welfare Department, many of the challenges faced by families could have been resolved in a timely and amicable manner. Perhaps, the UT Administrator should intervene to make the Health MER Department as the nodal department for the Group Home. Given their experience in managing institutions such as MHI, GRIID and Ashreya Home, this would be a logical and effective step,” opined Harsharan Kaur, a counsellor closely associated with the families of persons with mental disabilities.

“If the UT Administrator fails to act, then the high court must intervene to protect the rights of persons with disabilities,” said Kulvinder Singh, a senior citizen sympathetic to the cause.