INDIA: Rs.120 Million Home Opens

TRISSUR, Kerala (Press Trust of India), April 17. 2007: A Bangalore based group has started a home for the aged at Panniyankara, about 30 km from here, to provide them a comfortable and secure environment. The Sobha Hermitage has been built at an estimated cost of Rs 12 crore on 3.5 acres of hilly land by NRI industrialist and Chairman of the Bangalore-based Sobha Group, Mr. P. N. C. Menon. "The elderly should not be denied comforts of life and best of facilities," Col V. K. Balan Menon, Director of Sri Kurumbha Trust, which runs the home, told PTI. Overseas jobs often keep children separated from parents. Some couples without children find there is none to care in old age, while others prefer not to live with their children. "Sobha Hermitage has 50 furnished double rooms, five guest rooms, a health centre, clinic with resident doctors, library, reading room, television room, a cybercafe and a modern auditorium," he said. A committee of eminent persons will select those who should live in the hermitage. Of the 13 of the 50 rooms are reserved for deserving senior citizens and 12 for those who can afford to pay a refundable deposit of Rs 700,000 and also monthly charges. The other 25 rooms are meant for widows from poor families and their children, who are not more than three years old. Already the hermitage has 19 residents. Vegetarian food is served and use of alcoholic drinks and tobacco is not allowed. Renowned artistes will be invited to perform at the hermitage. A six-bed hospital next to the hermitage would also cater to the needs of the people of Vadakumcheery and Kishakumcherry panchayats of Palakkad District. Two full time doctors, besides specialist doctors, would be available to the inmates of the hermitage. (The Hindu, Chennai)