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| Better days ahead? |
Jamshedpur, June 28: The state government will build three old-age homes.
The move comes after the National Council for Older Persons (NCOP) has made it mandatory for all states to have provisions for old-age homes. The state, which currently has a year-old home at Hazaribagh, has earmarked three cities to build more such homes for the elderly.
While the home in Ranchi is nearing completion, the government has identified Deoghar and Jamshedpur as the other places for the project.
Mridula Sen, secretary of the state social welfare department, said they were looking for a suitable non-government organisation to manage the home in Ranchi.
Proposals for the final identification of land to construct the old-age home in Deoghar and Jamshedpur have also been forwarded for the necessary clearances. The government will support the homes financially, but it would be difficult for them to manage the daily affairs in the homes.
The Indian Red Cross Society manages the old-age home in Hazaribagh.
?NGOs are integral to our projects since collaborating with they are very important for our development schemes,? Sinha said.
The old-age homes will be constructed according to NCOP guidelines. The policy has identified a number of areas such as financial security, health care, welfare and shelter of the elderly.
?Though it would depend on the NGOs working with us, we hope to have attached bathrooms along with 24-hour medical assistance at these homes,? added Sinha.
The state old-age home would be the first of its kind in the steel city after Nirmal Hriday, a home for the destitute run by the Missionaries of Charity.
A few private organisations had started providing food and shelter to the elderly, but they have now become defunct.
Authorities said they would be concentrating on providing quality social and medical welfare to the elderly in the state.
The social welfare department, however, does not have figures of the percen- tage of people above 70 years, with the last census been done during the erstwhile Bihar days.
