Senior citizens at the shelter that will be unveiled by mid August. Photo: Sanjoy Chattopadhyaya KOLKATA (The Telegraph), July 31, 2007: A home is coming up in Rasik Ghosh Lane in north Kolkata where senior citizens will be able to spend the day “in peace, according to their wish”.
The home — an initiative of Medical Bank, a voluntary organisation — is likely to be opened next month.
“It’ll be a short-stay home for the aged where all the facilities will be provided free,” said D. Ashis, secretary of Medical Bank.
“They will come around noon and stay till the evening. Here, they will read newspapers, watch television or just gossip. They are free to do whatever they like. We will also try to arrange some light refreshment for them.”
What has led Medical Bank to set up this “short-stay” shelter? Ashis pointed out that there are many homes in the city where the aged hardly get a chance to even enjoy a siesta.
“They spend the afternoons outside to enable the younger members to have a nap. They move around aimlessly and some fall ill in the summer heat. At home, they do not have the freedom to live their own lives. When it comes to watching TV, it is the choice of the younger members that rules. We have set up the home keeping the plight of these elderly people in mind,” said Ashis.
The home is coming up at 5 Rasik Ghosh Lane, where Sankar Prasad Dutta, a social worker, lives with his family.
“My son Sabyasachi and three of my relatives died in an accident near Digha in August 1991. I was wondering how to keep the memory of my son and the relatives alive, when Asish approached me with the proposal. I readily agreed and gave the organisation a part of the house,” Dutta said.
Copyright © 2006 The Telegraph
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