Bhubaneswar: The department of social security and empowerment of persons with disability has joined hands with Tata Trust to set up a wellness centre exclusively for senior citizens at BMC-Bhawani Mall here.
The first-of-its-kind centre, Anand, will include an array of facilities for the elderly, including commercial outlets, health care centre, counters to facilitate Aadhaar, PAN and voter Ids apart from recreational zones and a library with a reading room.
"We will go ahead with the project once the government approves our proposal. The proposed centre has a tentative budget of Rs 4.86 crore," said the department's joint secretary Debaprasad Dash.
He said the centre would be a hub to showcase that senior citizens remain productive even after retirement. "The centre will be set up on a pilot basis here and if it does well, more such centres will be set up in each district headquarter town," said Dash.
The proposal has been drafted in consultation with Tata Trust, which will be the main force behind designing a working model of the first outlet.
It will select contractors to run the outlets for food and beverages and companies dealing with ayurvedic products.
"The centre will be a one of its kind in the country. We will run it for the first five years during which we will identify members and employ them in the facility. Once it starts generating revenue, we will hand it over to the employed senior citizen members," said Seema Gupta of Tata Trust.
At the end of the five-year period, the elderly will organise everything from rent, electricity charges, business management and implementing ideas to draw crowds so that the model is economically sustainable and replicable.
The department will make the place vibrant and happening for senior citizens. "The project will initially cost the government, but later it would incur the expenditure by itself," said Dash.
The government had initiated the process to for the wellness centre last August when it decided to form age-friendly centres for the elderly and other distressed people. "It is a good plan to set up such a centres for us," said Dayanath Mishra, a retired government employee.
