INDIA: Three years on, helpline for elderly citizens cries for volunteers

. MUMBAI, Maharashtra / The Indian Express / June 14, 2009 Elderline 1090, a helpline for senior citizens, has not a single active volunteer who would rush to the aid of lonely elders — who remain soft targets for criminals, a fact highlighted by the murder of 74-year-old Lakshmi Sangoi earlier this week. When the helpline was launched in May 2006, it meant to involve volunteers as well as local police stations in helping the 4,111 senior citizens registered, as and when required. Three years on, the helpline depends only on local policemen on duty, with none of the 1,472 volunteers it has registered being actually active. “We had envisaged a process where volunteers would help us by visiting senior citizens, running their errands, taking them for medical check-ups or merely chatting with them. We have registered 1,472 volunteers on our database so far but none of them is active,” said a police officer. The volunteers were expected to submit their personal details, the kind of help they were willing to offer and the hours when they could work. Once their credentials had been verified, the police would have decided which volunteer was best placed to help which senior citizen. The police now say volunteers frequently cite excuses to avoid such work, leaving the responsibility to the police. “Several volunteers we called made excuses like ‘We are out of town’ or ‘We have other work to attend to’,” said an officer. The helpline got 16,277 calls, 26,080 in 2007 and 17,935 in 2008, followed by 9,292 in 2009 so far. Of the total, 8,356 callers sought counselling on family or health problems, or merely wanted someone to talk to out of loneliness. The second largest category, 2,248 callers, sought domestic help. Senior citizens also call to report thefts or threats, complain against servants, seek medical aid or help in payment of bills, and ask traffic-related questions. Deputy Commissioner of Police, Headquarters-1, Vijaysinh Jadhav urged volunteers to come forward and register; he said interested NGOs too may approach the police.[rc] © 2009 The Indian Express Limited.