Census for elderly living alone in high-rises

Kolkata: The state government on Friday urged representatives of housing societies to come forward in helping the local police and civic authorities get information in case any elderly is in a distressed situation in any high-rise in the wake of the pandemic.

Local police and civic authorities will also be conducting census of elderly people residing in the high-rises in their respective areas to prepare a data with which such people can be easily provided assistance.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, during the Cabinet meeting on Thursday, directed the state administration to come up with a mechanism to extend support to senior citizens at this critical time of COVID-19 as many of them stay all alone in the high-rises with their children living away from them.

Following the Chief Minister's direction, a high-level meeting was held at the Kolkata Municipal Corporation in which state Urban Development and Municipal Affairs minister Firhad Hakim, Home Secretary Alapan Bandyopadhyay and the top brass of the New Town Kolkata Development Authority (NKDA), Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation and Howrah Municipal Corporation were present. Senior officers of Bidhannagar and Howrah Commissionerate also attended the meeting. Later, Bandyopadhyay said: "We have decided that civic and police authorities will hold a census of the elderly people staying in the high-rises. Phone numbers of representatives of housing societies will also be collected and at the same time they will be provided with contact details of Ward coordinators and also that of from the local police stations. We will also give them the dedicated helpline numbers of the state Health department."

As health workers are not allowed door-to-door visits in most housing complexes, representatives and members of the societies will be urged to maintain a regular check on the health and other issues of the elderly people residing in their neighbourhood. In case of any distress situation, they are requested to contact at the phone numbers provided to them or dial the one-stop helpline number of the state Health department.

At the same time, all civic authorities have been requested to increase the total number of ambulances in their respective areas and to set up call centres and control rooms for better management of the situation. Though the police run a number of programmes like Pranam, Shradha and Sanjhbati in Kolkata, Howrah and Bidhannagar respectively for senior citizens, it is considered that the call centre will further help in reaching out to them.