Minister for Social Justice & Empowerment, Dr. Virendra Kumar has informed that As per census 2011 report, there are 10.38 crore senior citizens in India. The data regarding number of destitute senior citizens in the country is not maintained in this Ministry. Assistance to the States for running old age homes is not provided by the Ministry. However, under the State Action Plan for Senior Citizens (SAPSrC) (component under Atal Vayo Abhyuday Yojana), this Ministry provides funds to States/ UTs to improve the quality of life of the Senior Citizens, by encouraging productive and active ageing through the Institutions of the State/UT Governments/Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs)/ Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) / local bodies and the community at large.
This Ministry, under Integrated Programme for Senior Citizens (IPSrC) provides grants in aid to implementing agencies like NGOs/Societies/Trusts/Voluntary Organizations for maintenance of senior citizen homes to provide food, shelter, healthcare facilities etc. to indigent senior citizens. This Scheme also includes Continuous care homes, Mobile medical units and physiotherapy clinics. A total of 1,31,990 indigent senior citizens have been benefited under IPSrC during the current financial year, till date. Presently, 534 senior citizen homes under IPSrC are being assisted. The Scheme guidelines have been revised w.e.f. 01.04.2021 and a provision has been made for establishing a senior citizen home in each district.
The Ministry is also implementing a Central Sector Scheme namely Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana (RVY) under which free of cost assistive devices are provided to those senior citizens who suffer from age related disabilities/infirmities, and belong to BPL category. Since 2020-21, senior citizen who have a monthly income upto Rs. 15,000/- can also avail the benefit. During the current financial year, a total of 69,911 beneficiaries have been provided with assisted living devices, till date.
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