To resolve the grievances pertaining to senior citizens across Punjab, the State Government on Thursday launched a dedicated helpline — Elder Line-14567 — for senior citizens at MGSIPA, Chandigarh. Every senior citizen of Punjab can call on 14567 for any grievance, said the state Social Security and Women and Child Development Minister Razia Sultana on Thursday.
Sultana, addressing the function, said that the helpline will act as a unified platform to reach out to every senior citizen of Punjab by providing necessary information and intervention through highly committed partners including government agencies, NGOs, HelpAge and volunteers.
Besides providing support and guidance, it will also make aware about government schemes and programmes for their welfare and facilitate queries. For this purpose, the government has appointed field officers in all 23 districts of the State to help elders at ground level, she added.
Referring to the State Government’s various welfare schemes for elderly people, Sultana said that the Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi led Government was taking all necessary initiatives to create the right policy framework for the care of the elderly.
“The State Government has doubled the amount of old-age pension from Rs 750 to Rs 1500 per month. At present, 18.15 lakh persons are availing benefits of the Old Age Pension Scheme.
