INDIA: Old Age Programme Has Brought Dignity, says NGO

RANCHI (The Telegraph, Kolkata), June 13, 2008: By Arti Sahuliyar HelpAge India has come up with a programme — Vridha Sangh — for senior citizens of Ranchi, Hazaribagh and Gumla to help them lead life with dignity. Around 2,250 elderly persons of 100 villages in the three districts reaped benefit from the programme launched in December, 2006. Debabrata Ghosh, the programme advisor of HelpAge India in Bihar and Jharkhand, said: “It is basically a localised concept as there is no panchayat raj system in the state. Vridha Sangh has been mooted by the elderly people who have formed self-help groups. It is a congregation of elderly people for solving problems related to family and health.” These elderly citizens are aware of their rights and government schemes such as old age pensions and Indira Awas Yojana among others. “Earlier, middlemen duped elderly citizens receiving money under Indira Awas Yojana and other schemes of the government. But now these elderly citizens go to the banks and post offices themselves to withdraw their money,” Ghosh said. The elderly citizens have also formed Vridha Adalat, a form of a local court, to deliberate on family issues. “The attitude of the family changes once the elderly members start getting all the benefits. Else, they are not looked after properly. We have also formed a Vridha Mitra at the village-level, where 25-35 local boys have been roped in. They go to every house and discuss the problems of the elderly persons and the issues are taken to the gram sabhas,” said another senior official of HelpAge India. The officials of HelpAge India said soon the state policy for elderly citizens would be framed under the aegis of the social welfare department. There is also a proposal to formulate a state council for elderly citizens, which would be headed by the ministry of social welfare. Copyright © 2008 The Telegraph.