Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has been implementing various schemes and initiatives for the welfare of senior citizens across the country, with a focus on strengthening long-term care infrastructure, assisted living facilities and support systems for the elderly.

As per the Longitudinal Ageing Study in India (LASI), conducted under the aegis of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, 23.8 per cent of persons aged 60 years and above in the country suffer from at least one limitation in Activities of Daily Living (ADL), indicating varying degrees of care dependency.

Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment is implementing an umbrella scheme, namely Atal Vayo Abhyudaya Yojana (AVYAY), with effect from 01.04.2021 for the welfare of senior citizens across the country. Under the Integrated Programme for Senior Citizens (IPSrC), a component of AVYAY, Grant-in-Aid is provided to organisations for running and maintenance of Senior Citizen Homes, Continuous Care Homes, Mobile Medicare Units and Physiotherapy Clinics. At present, 705 Senior Citizen Homes, 13 Continuous Care Homes, 17 Mobile Medicare Units and 03 Physiotherapy Clinics are being supported under IPSrC.

In addition, under the Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana (RVY) component of AVYAY, eligible senior citizens suffering from age-related disability or infirmity are being provided assistive living devices to restore near normalcy in bodily functions. These include aids for low vision, hearing impairment, loss of teeth and loco-motor disabilities. At present, 7.93 lakh eligible senior citizens have been benefitted under RVY.

Recognising the importance of home-based care and the need for trained caregivers, the Department is implementing a scheme component namely PM-SPECIAL (System for Provision of Eldercare in House and Assisted Living) to bridge the demand-supply gap in geriatric caregivers. The initiative aims to enhance professional services for senior citizens and to create a trained cadre of caregivers in the field of geriatrics.

The Government has also established a National Helpline for Senior Citizens, Elderline (14567), to provide free information, guidance and emotional support to senior citizens. Continuous efforts are being undertaken to strengthen Elderline through enhancement of technological infrastructure, expansion of call-handling capacity and extensive awareness generation through outreach activities to ensure increased accessibility.

The Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007 provides for the establishment of Maintenance Tribunals and Appellate Tribunals to ensure speedy, inexpensive and summary justice to senior citizens. Under Section 5(4) of the Act, Maintenance Tribunals are mandated to dispose of applications for maintenance within ninety days from the date of service of notice to the children or relatives, extendable by a maximum of thirty days in exceptional circumstances.

[This information was given by the Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment, Shri B. L. Verma, in a written reply in the Lok Sabha today.]

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S.M

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