Why in News?

• Recently, The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment implements a Central Sector Scheme of Integrated Programme for Senior Citizens (IPSrC).

Highlights

• The National Policy on Older Persons (NPOP) was announced in 1999 to reaffirm the commitment to ensure the well-being of older persons.
• The Policy envisages State support to ensure financial and food security, health care, shelter and other needs of older persons, equitable share in development, protection against abuse and exploitation, and availability of services to improve the quality of their lives.
• It Is a Central Sector Scheme funded by the Senior Citizens’ Welfare Fund.
• The scheme provides aids and assistive living devices to senior citizens belonging to BPL category or those who earn less than 15000/- per month and suffer from age-related disabilities such as low vision, hearing impairment, loss of teeth, and loco-motor disabilities.
• The National Helpline for Senior Citizen (14567)-Elderline has been set up by the Ministry to address the grievances of elders in 2021.
• The helpline has been launched across the country and offers services to senior citizens through a toll-free number.
• The Ministry has also included awareness generation/sensitization programs with school/college students for strengthening inter-generational bonding under the umbrella scheme of Atal Vayo Abhyuday Yojana.
• It aims to provide information and educational material to individuals, families, and groups for better understanding of the aging process