To help the elderly suffering from age-related disabilities, the government has decided to provide assisted living devices like crutches, spectacles, hearing aids and dentures to them.
"The objective is to bring senior citizens belonging to economically weaker sections into active life and build an aged-friendly society by providing them with devices to maintain near normalcy in morbidity.
"The assistive devices will be of high quality and conform to the standards laid down by the Bureau of Indian Standards," a senior official from the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment said.
The scheme aims to address disabilities like low vision, hearing impairment, loss of teeth and locomotor disability. The devices which will be provided include walkers, crutches, tripods, spectacles, hearing aids and dentures.
"For confirming infirmity, a certificate from any medical officer working in a government hospital will be mandatory," the official said.
The scheme will be fully financed by the Centre. In states, the scheme will be steered by state nodal department.
The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment will be the nodal ministry to oversee the implementation of the scheme.
A person should be 60 years or above to avail of the facilities under the scheme. Also, the beneficiary will have to be certified by competent authority as a person living below the poverty line.
The person should possess a certificate from a government Medical officer or Medical Board of District hospital or Primary Health centre specifying the nature and extent of disability.
"Under the scheme, at least 30 per cent of the total beneficiaries must be women. Artificial Limbs Manufacturing Corporation of India (ALIMCO) will organise camps under the scheme to provide the aids," he said.
As per the census figures of 2011, the population of senior citizens in India is 10.38 crore and more than 70 per cent of them live in rural areas.
A sizeable percentage (5.2 per cent) of them suffer from some sort of disability related to old age.
"As a result of rapid change in the demographic profile along with increased life expectancy and advancements in health care, Indian population is gradually progressing towards the phenomenon of population ageing.
"Projections indicate that the number of elderly people will increase to around 173 million by 2026," he added.
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