Group home for mentally ill in Chandigarh: ‘With just 8 rooms, Cheshire Home can’t meet city’s needs’

The recent decision of the UT administration to convert the Cheshire Home in Sector 21 into a group home for persons with mental issues has invited more criticism.
Those associated with the welfare of people battling mental issues have highlighted the inadequacy of the facility to meet the needs for the beneficiaries.
The UT administration in a meeting held on July 11, 2019, had asked Aditya Vikram Rametra, managing trustee, Pushpanjali Trust, to provide a list of potential/prospective beneficiaries of the group home.
“We conducted a survey among 31 psychiatrists of the city. As per their feedback, around 400 people need a group home. But not all of them need it immediately or at one time. Immediate need for a group in the city is for around 70 people,” said Rametra.
Bhupinder Kaur Sidhu, a mother of an adult with mental illness, in a letter to the UT adviser, highlighted the limitation of the proposed group home: “Out of nine rooms, one room will have to be for the residential staff. The remaining eight rooms can accommodate a maximum of 16 residents.”
MHA intervention
The administration last year had decided that Cheshire Home will be used as a halfway home for mentally ill persons, and an affidavit was also submitted in the Supreme Court to that effect. The administration had finally made a move to implement the decision in August this year.
ALSO READ: NGO objects to UT admn decision to convert Cheshire Home
The parents and residents had written to the Union ministry of home affairs calling out the delay in creation of a group home. On August 24, MHA officials had then written to the UT administration seeking a report on the issue at the earliest.
The decision to set up a group home, rather than a halfway home, at the facility in Sector 21 had followed. The halfway home will instead come up in the Disability Assessment Rehabilitation and Triage (DART) building in Sector 32.
Rametra said, “Administration should draft a basic framework, which will incorporate issues like need assessment, paying and non-paying categories, selection procedure, etc.”
On ‘encroachers’
The September 23 press statement of the administration had described the current residents of the Home as “encroachers”, but the minutes of the meeting held on July 11, 2019, clearly stated, “At present, 17 disabled persons are residing in this home. In the year 2017, the said NGO (Cheshire Home Society) abandoned the Cheshire Home and inmates living therein. Thereafter, the inmates have continued to stay in this building.”
-
Torrential rainfall triggers massive floods in Bengaluru; IMD says more to come
BENGALURU: At least two people were killed, while several others were left scrambling for shelter as heavy rainfall battered large parts of Bengaluru. Three workers were stuck in a flooded pipeline in Ullal Upanagara, and only one person managed to escape. The India Meteorological Department on Tuesday issued an Orange alert for urban and rural districts of Bengaluru, predicting heavy rainfall for the next 4-5 days.
-
Delhiwale: Knock knock! Who’s there?
The door is stained with tiny shreds of old peeling paint. The latch is entwined into a small lock so rusty that it has turned red. Green plants are growing uncut on the front. Studded with faded brasses, this is a traditional wood door you might chance upon in Old Delhi, or in any other historic neighbourhood such as Mehrauli. The lane otherwise consists of low altitude multi-storey housings. The fascinating door stands out.
-
Delhi CM Kejriwal meets heroes involved in Mundka fire rescue
Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday met a group of people who rescued dozens of people trapped from the multi-storey building in Mundka where at least 27 people died in a fire last week. Last Friday, a massive fire spread through the three floors of the building where a CCTV and Wi-Fi router assembling unit was being run illegally.
-
Jammu MC passes resolution to remove illegal loudspeakers from religious, public places
In a move aimed at reducing noise pollution and providing relief to people, especially students, ailing and the elderly, the Jammu municipal corporation on Tuesday passed a resolution for the removal of loudspeakers and public address systems operating without permission from religious and public places, evoking criticism from the rival Congress. Corporators from the Opposition stiffly opposed the decision and said that it will vitiate peaceful atmosphere of Jammu, known for brotherhood.
-
J&K: Two overground workers of LeT arrested in Budgam
Security forces on Tuesday arrested two overground workers of Lashkar-e-Taiba from Budgam district of Jammu and Kashmir, police said. “Police, along with security forces, have arrested two terrorist associates of proscribed terror outfit LeT in Budgam. Incriminating materials, explosives and ammunition were also recovered from their possession,” a police spokesman said.