New hope for homeless and mentally ill

A year ago, the INCENSE team at Parivartan, along with Regional Mental Hospital, the set up Devrai at the hospital.

INCENSE, homeless people, people without home, mentally ill people, mentally ill people house, pune news

Devrai, a 40-bed ward for long stay of mentally ill patients at the Regional Mental Hospital, was opened a year ago. (Arul Horizon)

At 43, Niranjan (name changed) is desperate to get back to work. Three years ago, his sister admitted him to Regional Mental Hospital at Yerawada after he was diagnosed with schizophrenia. Despite him being stable now, his sister refuses to get him discharged from the hospital. With 15 years of experience working with software applications like Autocad, Dell cam power and others, his hope now rests with a new initiative that is helping patients reintegrate with their families and finding suitable jobs.

Over the past one year, Devrai, a 40-bed ward for long stay of mentally ill patients at the Regional Mental Hospital, the largest government hospital which is celebrating its centenary this year, has managed to reunite five patients with their families under the initiative Inclusion and Empowerment of People with Severe Mental Disorders (INCENSE) by Parivartan, an NGO.

“We have shortlisted three persons who are now stable and can work outside,” says Dr Amit Nulkar, psychiatrist and a member of INCENSE, which collaborating with mental hospitals in the endeavour.

A year ago, the INCENSE team at Parivartan, along with Regional Mental Hospital, the set up Devrai at the hospital. While the civil work for this ward was undertaken by the hospital, refurbishment was done through a grant received from Tata Trust, said Dr Hamid Dabholkar, one of the leading members of the Parivartan.

Dabholkar, who is the son of slain anti-superstition activist Narendra Dabholkar, was helped by Sudipto Chatterjee, one of the coordinators of INCENSE who has also made a documentary Lapata Zindagi capturing the plight of homeless mentally ill people in Pune.

“Our work with the vulnerable group of homeless who are disoriented due to being mentally ill and have no clue what is going to happen to them also helped us set up this ward,” Dabholkar said.

According to Jai Adawadkar, clinical services coordinator at INCENSE, at least 20 people are now staying at the Devrai ward and are relatively stable. Of these, three have been shortlisted for working outside the government hospital and then returning to the ward after the day’s work is over.

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“We have approached several socially aware agencies to help us in the effort,” Adawadkar said.

The Devrai ward helps train inmates for livelihood-based activity after which they are moved to a transit ward with bright cheerfully painted rooms as part of a preparatory stage before they move out into the community. “All this is being done in stages,” said Dr Bhalchandra Donglikar, superintendent of the Regional Mental Hospital that has 1,691 patients.

Since June this year, the hospital too has made special efforts to reunite at least 10 mentally ill patients with their families.

Anuradha Mascarenhas

Anuradha Mascarenhas is a Senior Editor at The Indian Express, based in Pune. With a career spanning three decades, she is one of the most respected voices in Indian journalism regarding healthcare, science and environment and research developments. She also takes a keen interest in covering women's issues . Professional Background Education: A gold medalist in Communication and Journalism from Savitribai Phule Pune University and a Master’s degree in Literature. Author: She authored the biography At The Wheel Of Research, which chronicles the life and work of Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, the former Chief Scientist at the WHO. Key Focus: She combines scientific accuracy with storytelling, translating complex medical research into compelling public and human-interest narratives. Awards and Recognition Anuradha has won several awards including the Press Council of India's national award for excellence in journalism under the gender based reporting category in 2019 and the Laadli Media award (gender sensitivity -2024). A recipient of the Lokmat journalism award (gender category-2022), she was also shortlisted for the RedInk awards for excellence in journalism-2021. Her debut book At The Wheel Of Research, an exclusive biography of Dr Soumya Swaminathan the inaugural chief scientist of World Health Organisation was also nominated in the Popular Choice Category of JK Paper AUTHER awards. She has also secured competitive fellowships including the Laadli Media Fellowship (2022), the Survivors Against TB – New Research in TB Media Fellowship (2023) and is part of the prestigious 2025 India Cohort of the WomenLift Health Leadership Journey.” Recent Notable Articles (Late 2025) 1. Cancer & Specialized Medical Care "Tata Memorial finds way to kill drug-resistant cancer cells" (Nov 26, 2025): Reporting on a breakthrough for triple-negative breast cancer, one of the most aggressive forms of the disease. Discipline, diet and purpose; How a 97-year-old professor defies ageing'' (Nov 15, 2025) Report about Prof Gururaj Mutalik, the first Head of Department at Pune's B J Government Medical College who at 97 credits his longevity to healthy habits and a strong sense of purpose. 2. Environmental Health (The "Breathless Pune" Series) Long-term exposure even to 'moderate' air leads to chronic heart, lung, kidney issues" (Nov 26, 2025): Part of an investigative series highlighting that even "safe" pollution levels are damaging to vital organs. "For every 10 µg/m3 increase in PM2.5 level, there was 6-8% jump in medicine sales" (Nov 23, 2025): Using commercial data to prove the direct link between air quality and respiratory illnesses in Pune. 3. Lifestyle & Wellness News "They didn't let cancer, diabetes and heart disease stop them from travelling" (Dec 22, 2025): A collaborative piece featuring survivors who share practical tips for traveling with chronic conditions. At 17, his BP shot up to 200/120 mmHG; Lancet study flags why child and teen hypertension doubled between 2000 and 2020'' (Nov 12,2025)--A report that focusses on 17-year-old-boy's hypertensive crisis and reflects the rising global trend of high blood pressure among children and adolescents. 4. Scientific Recognition & Infrastructure For promoting sci-comm, gender diversity: IUCAA woman prof highlighted in Nature" (Nov 25, 2025): Covering the global recognition of Indian women scientists in gender studies and physics. Pune researchers find a spiral galaxy like the Milky Way from early universe'' (December 3, 2025)- A report on how Indian researchers discovered a massive galaxy that existed when the universe was just 1.5 billion years old , one of the earliest to have been observed so far. Signature Beat: Health, Science & Women in Leadership Anuradha is known for her COVID-19 reportage, where she was one of the first journalists to provide detailed insights into the Covishield and Covaxin trials. She has a dedicated interest in gender diversity in health and science, often profiling women researchers who are breaking the "leaky pipeline" in STEM fields. Her writing style is scrupulous, often featuring interviews with top-tier scientists and health experts from various institutions. ... Read More

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