Cantonment boards to host day care centres and homes for senior citizens

Cantonment boards, the civic bodies that run India’s military towns, are set to become a new delivery channel for senior-citizen welfare. The Department of Social Justice and Empowerment and the Directorate General Defence Estates (DGDE) are due to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in New Delhi on Monday, 16 November, with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Social Justice Minister Virendra Kumar present.

The agreement brings the boards under the Atal Vayo Abhyudaya Yojana (AVYAY), the Centre’s umbrella scheme for older people. Under it, cantonment areas will get new day care centres for older residents, and the day care centres the boards already run will get support from the department. Where space allows, the department will also fund senior citizen homes with 25 or 50 beds.

Caregivers, camps and a school pledge

The department’s training partners will prepare young people to work as geriatric caregivers, a step the ministry links to new jobs in elderly care. Awareness camps on the ministry’s schemes are planned, and students at cantonment board schools will take a pledge on respecting the elderly, with activities that bring the two generations together.

Sajeesh Kumar N, joint secretary at the ministry, described the pact as a whole-of-government effort that would use the boards’ existing buildings and local reach to get services to residents quickly. He cited projections that India’s population aged 60 and above, about 10 crore in 2011, will reach roughly 23 crore in 2036.

The ministry said the pact follows the Vayo Samman Rashtriya Abhiyan, a campaign on bonds between generations that it launched on 4 November.

Telugu states and services already running

In the Telugu states, the Secunderabad Cantonment Board in Hyderabad is administered under the Union defence ministry. The ministry has not said which boards will get the first centres. AVYAY’s existing services include the national Elderline helpline, 14567, and the Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana. Secretary Sudhansh Pant and Director General Defence Estates Shobha Gupta are among the officials expected at Monday’s signing.