Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde called an immediate meeting with the senior citizens groups on Monday to know about the issues faced by senior citizens and know their demands. The CM also asked the state’s chief secretary to make provisions for implementing the State Policy of Senior Citizens 2018.
Various senior citizens groups have been putting up demands for the welfare of the elderly in the country to provide them a better lifestyle in their post retirement age. These groups had even prepared a manifesto of their demands prior to the Lok Sabha elections and await implementation on their demands. However, these groups had expressed strong resentment against the recent union budget alleging that it has missed out on providing any substantial help to the senior citizens.
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After the NITI Aayog meeting with the prime minister Narendra Modi last week, where the PM stressed on preparing policies for the senior citizens and asked the states to ensure policies for the senior citizens are implemented at state level. Following the meeting, Maharashtra CM Shinde called for an immediate meeting with the active senior citizens welfare groups and various state departments on Monday.
The meeting, which involved 11 senior citizens welfare groups and 19 government departments, went on for almost two hours where the CM listened to their demands and also asked the chief secretary to make provisions for the implementation of State Policy of Senior Citizens 2018. The CM assured the groups of special provisions to be undertaken by the state government for the betterment of senior citizens.
The CM assured a special section for seniors in government hospitals, help for old age homes, adult vaccination, establishment of elder self-help groups, a special help desk for seniors at police stations and creating a senior citizens commissionerate at state to work as a nodal agency and grievances. He also said that the state government will write to the union government to restore railway concessions to seniors and to the GST council to withdraw or provide subsidy on 18% GST.
Sailesh Mishra, member of the Joint Action Committee for Senior Citizens, who was also a part of the meeting, said, “We are happy that the CM took personal interest and listened to our woes. Even though we were provided only 25 minutes, he continued the meeting for almost two hours. We are optimistic that we might soon see policies for seniors in Maharashtra.”
