KL NEWS NETWORK
SRINAGAR
The government is contemplating setting up two old age homes, one each in Srinagar and Jammu. Each home will have the capacity to accommodate 150 elderly persons.
The trend has already started. In Jammu there are four old age homes being successfully run by different NGOs. Cumulatively they have 99 inmates, 30 of them women.
The government told the state assembly last week that the old age home at Amphalla has a capacity to manage 100 elderly persons. They have 34 men and 16 women living there already making almost half of their capacity.
In Udhampur, Jagrati Old Age Home is already in operation. Against the capacity of 25 persons, it already has eight old aged persons living there, four men and women.
In Kathua, there is Home for Old Age & Infirm with a capacity of 60 persons. It is already having 30 inmates including seven females.
Another Home is operational in Akhnoor with a capacity of 50 persons. Right now, government said, it has 11 inmates, three of them women.
While the government is planning two homes, one each in one division of the state, there is J&K Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act 2014 already in vogue. Its section 20 envisages a provision for medical care which largely includes beds, separate queues, treatment of chronic and degenerative diseases, research activities and facilities for geriatric patients in every hospital.
