Welfare of senior citizens among top priorities of Govt: Advisor (G)

Jammu : Advisor to Governor Khurshid Ahmad Ganai Monday said that welfare of senior citizens is among the top priorities of the Governor’s administration and steps have been taken to provide institutional support to them.
The Advisor was speaking at an interactive programme ‘A day with Senior Citizens’ organized by Social Welfare Department here today. The programme was organized to celebrate State’s senior citizens and providing them with a platform to present their issues and concerns with the Government.
Deputy Commissioner Jammu, Ramesh Kumar, Director Social Welfare Department Dr Bharat Bhushan, Executive Director/ Secretary J&KSSWB Dr Khalid Hussain Malik, District Social Welfare Officers besides other concerned were also present.
On the occasion, Advisor Ganai, who was chief guest at the function, said that senior citizens have a wealth of knowledge and experience which is invaluable. “They should be celebrated and their welfare should be a priority for every administration,” he said.
“It’s true that values are different today and life has become fast-paced. Therefore, a defined institutional setup is necessary to support our senior citizens, and the administration has taken steps in that direction by way of J&K Maintenance & Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizen’s Act,” he added.
The Advisor invited forums of senior citizens to work with Social Welfare Department and J&KSSWB to provide their recommendations on the Act.
He directed all District Social Welfare Officers to set up special helplines for senior citizens to facilitate them with prompt redressal of their issues.
Deliberating upon old-age pension issues, Ganai said that the issue was discussed recently during the visit of Union Home Minister. He informed that the Union Minister has assured of its commitment towards old-age welfare and asked for an exercise to be conducted to scrutinize all pending pension cases for authenticity, adding that all genuine cases will be taken up, with necessary funds being made available for the same.
He also congratulated the Department for organizing the event, and said that such programmes provide an opportunity to hold direct interaction with senior citizens and to find out ways in which their welfare can be improved upon.
DC Ramesh Kumar during his address congratulated the Department for the maiden interaction initiative. He assured that district administration will provide all necessary support for the implementation of senior citizen welfare initiatives.
He informed that a Composite Home for Senior Citizens is being constructed at Kot Bhalwal at an approximate cost of Rs 10 crore besides a Day Care Centre has been set up at Janipur as well. He also said that free-of-cost land will be provided to Social Welfare Department for setting up of additional Day Care Centres for old-age people in Jammu.
Secretary J&K SSWB gave a detailed presentation on the J&K Maintenance & Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizen’s Act, 2014 and its various provisions.
Earlier, representatives of various NGOs working towards welfare of senior citizens presented their views and issues during the interactive programme.