Jorhat, June 22: Jorhat will soon have an old age home to care for the elderly.

The foundation stone of the home will be laid tomorrow.

The Akhil Bharatiya Vridhajana Seva Ashram Sanstha, an NGO with its headquarters in New Delhi, is taking up the project to construct an old age home at Potia Gaon on the Jorhat-Nimati Road here. The home will have a resident doctor and nurse too. Upendrajit Mahanta, the general secretary of the Jorhat unit of the organisation, said the home will also have a guesthouse to cater to tourists and can be an idyllic spot for those en route to or returning from Majuli.

“The spot where the home will be built is near Neematighat and can be used by tourists if they want to spend a night at Jorhat or if they fail to catch a ferry for some reason,” he said.

The old age home will be constructed on 14 bighas of land donated by the family of late Mitradev Mahanta, a former president of Asam Sahitya Sabha and an erudite scholar of Vaishnavaite philosophy.

“Nuclear families are on the rise and because of the pressures of modern life, children can hardly spare time for elders. Thus, a home where elders can stay and be looked after is the need of the hour. The presence of a resident doctor and nurse will ensure that they also get treatment,” Jagat Chandra Borthakur, the working president of the Jorhat unit, said.

The home will be a single-storey building but it will have provision for more storeys. It will be built at a cost of Rs 5 crore and will be able to cater to the needs of 60 persons.

Ranjan Baruah, an elderly person in his mid-forties, said he was not averse to the idea of admitting himself in an old age home when he grows old.

“People here might not have taken to the idea of old age homes thinking that a finger will be pointed at their children for neglecting them. However, I welcome the thought of staying with people of my age group and sharing activities with them when I grow old and infirm instead of trying to live my life through my children. I also value my independence,” he said.

To be built at the junction of Bar Ali and Commissioner’s Ali at Potia Gaon, the organisation also plans to have a fishery, dairy farm, a vegetable garden, a pond, a park, a library, rest room and recreation rooms. The office-bearers of Vridhajan Sevashram Samiti, the Jorhat unit of which was recently formed, comprise Siva Prasad Baruah as president, Borthakur as working president, vice-presidents Neelima Saikia, Durgeswar Borah, Baikuntha Mahanta, Lalit Shyam and Jyotirmay Bhuyan, secretary Dambaru Borah, joint secretaries Santosh Ranjan Sarmah Tamuly and Achyut Kumar Bhuyan, organising secretary Haresh Bordoloi and publicity secretaries Ananta Narayan Borthakur and Chitrajit Saikia.