Gehlot chairs meeting on senior citizens' welfare

Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment Thaawarchand Gehlot on Monday chaired the 'Second Meeting of National Council of Senior Citizens (NCSrC)' and said that the Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana, a free of cost distribution of physical aids and assisted-living devices to senior citizens belonging to BPL category, has been launched.

The scheme is being implemented through ALIMCO, a PSU under the ministry. The national launch of the scheme was done on April 1, 2017, at Nellore, Andhra Pradesh.

Gehlot said that corpus of the Senior Citizens Welfare Fund comprises of any credit balance in any of the accounts under the small savings like post office saving schemes, banks, etc remaining unclaimed for seven years from the date of declaration as an inoperative account, shall be transferred to the institution.

The Minister added that at present, there is no central legislation prescribing minimum standards for the services facilities to be made available in Old Age Homes across sectors. As a result, it has been observed that there are wide disparities in the services offered and facilities available.

Gehlot further said that regarding the schemes of Aadhaar-based Smart Card for senior citizens, a proposal is under consideration for the formulation of a scheme for senior citizens which will contain all the relevant details including health-related information.