There are
approximately 81,00,000 senior citizens in India and nearly 30% of these senior
citizens stay alone. Many Pan India surveys have revealed that a sizeable chunk
of this population face serious concerns related to their safety, security,
health, legal problems etc.
Often, these senior
citizens are physically incapacitated in some way or the other, which prevents
them for visiting a police station or any other agency for their safety and
security. Many a times, they are not able to receive appropriate medical
attention in times of crisis and sometimes, certain legal issues pertaining to
property and other matters leave then at a total loss as far as redressal of
these problems is concerned.
Pronam is the Joint
Initiative of the Kolkata Police and The Bengal with the objective aim
to redress these problems. A 24X7 helpline (033-24190740) has been launched
under the Pronam service, which will cater to the needs of senior citizens who
stay alone.
Career
fair for senior citizens
To help senior citizens to step into life
with second career options after retirement, the West Bengal Housing
Infrastructure Development Corporation (WBHIDCO) is holding a senior citizen
mela to help them train and choose career options.
The senior citizen mela was held at
Rabindra Tirtha in New Town Rajarhat adjacent to Kolkata from Friday and will
continue till Monday, WBHIDCO sources said.
In the mela workshops are being held to
help senior citizens learn on cooking and home delivery, IT and Desktop
publishing, Handicraft and run a boutique, beautician course to run a beauty
parlour, so that they can start their second career options, the sources said.
Seminars are being held on legal matters,
developing writing skills and net publishing, home tourism, financial
management, diabetics’ – know your numbers – way to a healthy life to help
senior citizens, they said.