Museum Cafe to continue operations, for now

The Museum Cafe, part of the Museum of Possibilities, which was on the brink of being shut down, will continue to function, the State government has announced on Tuesday. However, according to sources in the Welfare of the Differently Abled Department, at most, only an an extension of three months will be given.

Differently Abled Welfare Commissioner M. Lakshmi told The Hindu that an extension to run the cafe had been requested and it would be granted. But sources in the department pointed out that an extension request was still awaited.

The Museum Café was to be shut down allegedly to be converted into an office space for the Commissionerate. The facility, a fully accessible restaurant and vocational training centre for persons with disabilities (PwDs), established as a part of the Museum of Possibilities on the premises of the Commissionerate for the Welfare of the Differently Abled premises. It offers PwDs, especially those with intellectual and developmental disabilities, training in baking and confectionery and restaurant business. Seven people per batch are taken for training, and in the three-years since the cafe was opened, 14 of them have found jobs at various cafes in the city.

According to a notice dated September 26, the Commissioner stated that its three-year memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Vidya Sagar ended on August 31, 2025. The Commissionerate has now delinked the Museum of Possibilities from the cafe. The notice stated that the Commissionerate had decided to run the Museum of Possibilities only on the ground floor, for which tenders had been invited. Vidya Sagar was instructed to hand over the cafe premises within 60 days, which is November 26.

Since hearing the news, social media has been abuzz with many slamming the government for axing the novel initiative. The Museum of Possibilities and the cafe were inaugurated by Chief Minister M.K. Stalin in June 2022 as a Tamil Nadu government initiative. “There are not many accessible places for leisure. It’s great to hear that the cafe is going to remain open. A facility such as that at a prime location, where there is access to the beach, low-floor buses, and the Museum of Possibilities, lets us socialise,” said Sathish Kumar, a wheelchair user and member of the Disability Rights Alliance (DRA).

Pointing out that a museum needs a cafe, Poonam Natrajan, founder, Vidya Sagar, said: “It allows the person a space to reflect on the things they have seen at the museum. The Museum of Possibilities cannot be delinked from the cafe.”

Vaishnavi Jayakumar, a member of DRA, noted that what used to be a junk room at the Commissionerate was now the Museum of Possibilities and the terrace was the Museum Cafe. “From 2023 onwards, the Museum Cafe in particular has faced frequent hijack attempts, making it a stressful existence. Despite the government press release, there is talk of it only being an extension, so the sword is still hanging over what someone called Chennai’s pride — a place of real inclusion. The Museum Cafe is still on death row, this is a last minute reprieve but this precious idea is still in danger.”