Old age home struggles to provide shelter to the poor
The Memorial Old Age, christened as 'Aamar Ghar' or 'Our Home' presently houses 32 boarders mostly old women form different parts of the state and even a boarder from West Bengal. The old age home, considered the first-of-its-kind in Assam, is run by the the Ambika Memorial Trust Society.
The shelter home, presently running on the donation and revenue generated through the boarders, is still awaiting grant from the National Policy for The Senior Citizens. The home cannot accommodate old people from poor background, employ workers, construct a new wing for the home and even provide a suitable security for the vulnerable due to the nonchalant attitude of some state administration officials, said a senior administrator at the old age home.
"The Union ministry of social justice and empowerment initiated the Integrated Programme for Older Persons Scheme and as per the scheme, every state in the country should implement it. The scheme allots day care centres, old age homes and health facilities for the aged. Since 2002, we have been asking the state government to allot the grant but they are ignoring our requests. So in 2010, we decided not to ask any further and continue the work through donations and generation of revenues," said R K Gautam, general secretary Ambikagiri Memorial Trust Society.
He added, "The Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act of 2007 states that state governments should set up at least one old age home for every 150 beneficiaries in a district, but this is not happening. The administration has been telling us that they are waiting for the revision of the draft for years now. As per the act, every state in India can enforce their own rules and regulations but our state government is waiting for the finalization of the draft." "We want to help the poor old people wandering on the streets; it is very disheartening to see them being neglected due to the corruption present in the system," Yugabrata Dutta, joint secretary of the trust said.
V.RAGHAVENDRA RAO,
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