Elderly meet in Kolkata to know about caregivers & service providers in city

The Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry held an event for elderly people in Kolkata city. The event brought together senior citizens to know more about organizations and companies that provide caregivers and service providers in the city.

There are many senior citizens and elderly couple who live alone. Like Subhendu Bhattacharya. This 73-year-old lives in Kolkata city with his wife. His children are working in Dubai and Mumbai. Mr Bhattacharya is always worried about who will take care of him and his wife if they fall sick. For people like him, the event was a huge blessing.

Elderly can register in these organizations by paying a fee. The service providers will come home and help take care of their needs like going to a bank, shopping for grocery, and help in medical emergencies. A close relative or children of the elderly will have to sign a form before registering.

The programme also stressed on the importance of constantly checking on the health of the elderly. The slogan of the programme was Youth for seniors. More than 500 people attended the event.

There is hardly any government support for the elderly in Kolkata. There is one program called Pronom, which has been taken up by the police to help senior citizens who are living alone. The initiative is supported by the government.