Mental Health Relief in Chandigarh; Panjab Tops in Service Sector

The Chandigarh Union Territory (UT) administration has agreed to reduce the deposit on the Group Home in Sector 31 from USD 22.5K to USD 6.7K. Group Home is a first of its kind facility in India with modern infrastructure for people with mental illness and intellectual disability as per the Mental Healthcare Act, 2017. The facility was created to support adults with conditions like schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, autism, but lies largely unused. Aruna Rathore, a 61-year-old mother to an autistic child died earlier in November waiting for her son to be accepted to the facility. Despite an 80-bed capacity, the facility rejected 24 of the 37 applications received in 2025 over financial or procedural demands. After two years of deliberations and parents’ efforts, the UT administration has agreed to reduce the security deposit for the Group Home. Meanwhile, in an official communication to the Panjab government, Unique Identification Authority of India’s (UIAI aka Adhaar) regional office in Chandigarh informed that during Aadhar data verification exercises, it came to light that in Ludhiana, Gurdaspur, and Sangrur districts, individuals had more than one birth certificate. The Panjab government has directed all district registrar-cum-civil surgeons to conduct an immediate inquiry. Additionally, in a report published by National Institution for Transforming India Aayog (Mission) in October 2025, Panjab, alongwith Haryana, has emerged as a state with a rising share of workforce employed in the service sector. The report states that 40.8% of the workforce was employed in the service sector and the state’s service employment share remained higher than the national average of 29.7%. Panjab has also become the first state in India to implement the amended Bharat Net Scheme throughout the state. The Panjab Chief Secretary Kumar Anugraha Prasad Sinha said that internet and broadband services have been provided in the 43 shadow areas in the state with only one village remaining. With telecom in India largely privatized and the government carrier not very robust this achievement seems more ornamental than substantial to citizens (earlier coverage).