Nearly a month after its launch, Haryana’s first premarital counselling centre, Tere Mere Sapne, located at Civil Hospital in Sector 10, Gurugram, is set to be relocated to a community centre in DLF Phase 1, according to the Haryana state commission for women.
The decision to shift the centre comes after it remained non-functional since its inauguration on April 8 — with no counsellors on duty, no visitors, and no operational activity, officials said.
Officials cited poor infrastructure, lack of staff, and absence of funding as key reasons for its failure.
Dr Himani Yadav, deputy superintendent of the hospital, confirmed that the appointed counsellor, Jyoti Denbella, came only once.
“She was supposed to be here for two months, but no staff was given to run the centre. Since no one is there, visitors also don’t come,” Yadav said.
A spot check by HT on Friday found the counselling centre locked and vacant. Speaking over the phone, Denbella said, “I was not given a separate room to conduct sessions. That made it difficult for me to continue.”
Renu Bhatia, chairperson of the Haryana state commission for women, acknowledged two major issues. “First, many people were hesitant to visit a hospital for counselling because they feared being judged by others. Second, the counsellor we hired had a family emergency and couldn’t attend regularly,” she added.
Bhatia added that there was no financial support from the hospital or district administration.
“We are now working on a proposal to shift the centre to a community centre, the location of which will be finalised soon. For this, we will be asking the Gurugram district administration to give us ₹30,000 to run it. Earlier, we got the hospital space but no funds,” she said.
The initiative was part of a national project launched by the National Commission for Women (NCW) across 21 locations in nine states as a Women’s Day initiative in March, with the nearest operational centre at Faridabad, according to officials.
The Gurugram centre, housed in a shared room on the first floor of the civil hospital, aimed to provide guidance on emotional and relationship skills to individuals ahead of marriage.
However, hospital authorities said no psychologists or staff were appointed and the space had to be shared with the Sukoon Centre near the gynaecology ward, according to Dr Yadav.
“We were told footfall would be low in the beginning, so we offered that space temporarily. But no funds or extra staff were given to set up a separate area,” Dr Yadav said.
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