Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana

Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana

Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana:

• Coverage: Senior Citizens, belonging to BPL category and suffering from any of the age-related disability/infirmity Low vision, Hearing impairment, Loss of teeth and Locomotor disability.
• What assistance is provided? Assisted-living devices which can restore near normalcy in their bodily functions, overcoming the disability/infirmity manifested. They are free-of-cost.
• Funding: This is a Central Sector Scheme, fully funded by the Central Government. The expenditure for implementation of the scheme will be met from the “Senior Citizens’ Welfare Fund “.

Other key facts:

• In the case of multiple disabilities/infirmities manifested in the same person, the assistive devices will be given in respect of each disability/impairment.
• Beneficiaries in each district will be identified by the State Governments/UT Administrations through a Committee chaired by the Deputy Commissioner/District Collector.
• As far as possible, 30% of the beneficiaries in each district shall be women.

Need for the scheme:

• With more than 70% of the 104 million elderly living in the rural hinterland, any serious initiative to improve a lot of senior citizens must incorporate adequate budgetary support for social welfare spending on the relevant programs.
• With the number of the elderly in India set to surge by 2050 to almost 300 million, or about a fifth of the population, governments need to make more comprehensive efforts to address the problems of the elderly.

Source: PIB