Chandigarh, June 5 -- After the social welfare department in Chandigarh allotted rooms to two senior citizens at the Sector-31 Group Home facility before the June 22 deadline for receiving applications, parents of persons with mental and intellectual disabilities raised questions over the administration's hurried move. On April 28, the Chandigarh administration decided to convert half of the 80-seat group home into a paid senior citizen home due to low admissions from intellectually disabled persons. On May 6, the administration advertised admissions for the paid senior citizen home, offering 38 available seats. The application deadline was set for June 22. However, on May 25, the social welfare department's selection committee met with two applicants and approved their admission to stay in the senior citizens' home. Joginder Kaur, a parent of an intellectually disabled son and resident of Sector 38, questioned the admissions, asking, "When the application submission deadline is until June 22, why was there such a tearing hurry to grant admission to the senior citizens?" However, director of social welfare Naveen Rattu said the admission was granted to the two senior citizens as interim relief. "One of the applicants' wards is already residing in a group home, and another's daughter is not in the city regularly to care for the elderly person," Rattu said, adding that their applications were approved based on these circumstances. When asked why interim relief was granted for a paid facility-especially since the department already runs two senior citizen homes in Sectors 15 and 43 free of charge or at minimal cost-the director of social welfare requested time to respond. According to the terms and conditions of the paid senior citizen home application form, the power to amend the standard operating procedures (SOPs) vests with the executive committee of the UTTHAAN Society. However, the executive committee has not passed any details regarding the conversion of half of the group home into a senior citizens' home, nor the SOPs for it. The executive committee's last meeting took place in November last year, and another meeting is scheduled for Friday (June 5) on court orders. In the past month, the department also reconstituted the executive committee and governing body of the UTTHAAN Society of the group home, replacing some members. Members of the governing body have objected to the reconstitution of the executive committee and the governing body. Dr BK (Simmi) Waraich, a member and a psychiatrist, said, "Over the last few months, we have repeatedly requested the social welfare department to resolve our pending concerns. No meeting of the UTTHAAN Society has been convened since November 2025. And now, all of a sudden, we have received a letter mentioning the replacement of certain family representatives in the governing body and executive committee of the UTTHAAN Society," she said. Waraich said that the reconstituted executive committee lacks an independent mental health professional. "Furthermore, the new members (family representatives) have been nominated from the very small pool of families whose wards/relatives are currently residing in or undergoing day-care at the Group Home, Sector 31," Waraich added. The department is still receiving applications for the paid senior citizen home in Sector 31, but admissions have been postponed due to an interim court order passed on May 27 by the Punjab and Haryana High Court in a public interest litigation (PIL) case titled Jatinder Maan and others versus UT Chandigarh and others. The division bench of chief justice Sheel Nagu and judge Sanjeev Berry postponed the admission of senior citizens in the Sector 31 facility until the next hearing, allowing those applicants who have already been admitted to stay....