Now Reading: Chandigarh families push for 2017 mental health law implementation
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Chandigarh families push for 2017 mental health law implementation
Families of persons with mental disabilities, psychiatrists and advocates urged the Chandigarh administration on Friday to implement the Mental Healthcare Act, 2017, and fix serious shortcomings at the city's Group Home for…
The Story in Brief
Families of persons with mental disabilities, psychiatrists and advocates urged the Chandigarh administration on Friday to implement the Mental Healthcare Act, 2017, and fix serious shortcomings at the city's Group Home for persons with mental illnesses. They submitted a joint representation and said they would meet the UT administrator next week.
The Union government notified the UT administration in April 2025 to implement the Act, but the Chandigarh Mental Health Authority has not been constituted, hindering registration and grievance redressal, said Aditya Vikram of Pushpanjali Trust. Families also objected to a reported plan to allocate nearly half of the Sector 31 Group Home building to senior citizens, and demanded trained staff, vocational programmes and proper relocation of EWS beneficiaries from a makeshift facility.
The Indian Opinion
This dispute pits the original vision of the Group Home against a bureaucratic impulse to share scarce civic space with senior citizens. The 'reallocation to senior citizens' narrative makes a convenient villain, but the deeper issue is whether the administration ever intended to staff and register the home properly. The Mental Health Authority's non-existence since April 2025 speaks louder than any grievance list. Watch for the number of psychiatric social workers the UT actually hires in the next quarter, that will reveal intent.
Source: hindustantimes.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above.
