Lok Sabha Question No. 2844 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2026-03-10
Subject: Integrated Programme for Senior Citizens
Ministry: SOCIAL JUSTICE AND EMPOWERMENT
Asked by: Shri Brijmohan Agrawal

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF SOCIAL JUSTICE AND EMPOWERMENT LOK SABHA

UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2844 TO BE ANSWERED ON 10.03.2026

## INTEGRATED PROGRAMME FOR SENIOR CITIZENS

## 2844. SHRI BRIJMOHAN AGRAWAL:

## Will the Minister of SOCIAL JUSTICE AND EMPOWERMENT be pleased to state:

- (a) the current number of operational Senior Citizen Homes under the Integrated Programme for Senior Citizens (IPSrC) in the country, State-wise;
- whether the Government has identified any  "Zero-Facility Districts" in  Chhattisgarh where no Government-aided senior citizen home currently exists and the steps being taken to bridge this gap, if s0, the details thereof;
- the number of 'specialized units established for senior citizens afflicted with Alzheimer'$ disease and Dementia in India and Chhattisgarh under the current mission cycle;
- whether the Government is planning to move towards a "Direct Benefit" or "PublicPrivate Partnership (PPP)" model to reduce the heavy dependency on NGOs for the delivery of elderly care services in remote areas of India, if s0, the details thereof; and
- (e) the details of the various initiatives and schemes for the welfare of growing senior citizens in the country?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE AND EMPOWERMENT (SHRI B.LVERMA)

- (a): There are & total of 705 Senior Citizen Homes being supported by the Department of Social Justice and Empowerment under the  Integrated   Programme for   Senior Citizens (IPSIC), a component of Atal Vayo Abhudaya Yojana (AVYAY) The State-wise list of these Senior Citizen Homes is at Annexure-I.
- (b): As per AVYAY scheme guidelines, a district where no Senior Citizen Home is found as per the District-wise survey conducted by the State Government; is termed as a district. At present; there are 30 Districts in the State of Chhattisgarh  Currently, there are three Senior Citizen Homes being assisted under IPSrC in Chhattisgarh: To bridge this gap, this Department invites applications from Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) for running projects   of   Senior Citizen Homes in these gap districts   through the   e-Anudaan   portal throughout the year, for selection of Senior Citizen Homes. Gap Gap

(c): financial assistance is also   provided to the  NGOs for  running and maintenance of Continuous Care Homes (CCH) for the Senior Citizens who are seriously ill and require continuous nursing care and respite Or those who are afflicted with Alzheimer's diseasel Dementia. There are a total of 13 Continuous Care Homes (CCH) in the country which are being assisted under IPSIC. At present, there is no CCH being assisted under IPSrC in the State of Chhattisgarh:

(d): No such proposal is presently under consideration in the Department

(e): The  Department  f  Social Justice   and   Empowerment  is  implementing an umbrella scheme, namely Atal Vayo Abhyuday Yojana (AVYAY) for the welfare of senior citizens across the country. The brief of the scheme is at Annexure-II.

Further; the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare had also   launched a "National Programme for Health Care of the Elderly" (NPHCE) in 2010-11 to address various health related issues of elderly people. The details of NPCHE are at Annexure-III:

The Ministry of Rural   Development   implements National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP), a social security programme for the most vulnerable persons of society living below poverty line, both in rural and urban areas irrespective of the category of the beneficiaries. The details of NSAP are at Annexure-IV.

## be answered on 10.03.2026

## Statewise\_Number\_of\_Senior\_Citizen\_Homes\_and\_Continuous\_ Care\_Homes\_under Integrated Programme for Senior Citizens:

| SI No.   | State             | Number of Senior Citizens Home   |
|----------|-------------------|----------------------------------|
|          | Andhra Pradesh    | 90                               |
| 2        | Arunachal Pradesh | 4                                |
| 3        | Assam             | 40                               |
|          | Bihar             | 8                                |
|          | Chhattisgarh      | 3                                |
| 6        | Delhi             | 2                                |
| 7        | Goa               | 1                                |
| 8        | Gujarat           | 5                                |
| 9        | Haryana           | 14                               |
| 10       | Himachal Pradesh  | 5                                |
| 11       | Jammu And Kashmir | 13                               |
| 12       | Jharkhand         | 15                               |
| 13       | Karnataka         | 42                               |
| 14       | Kerala            | 8                                |
| 15       | Madhya Pradesh    | 32                               |
| 16       | Maharashtra       | 72                               |
|          | Manipur           | 41                               |
| 18       | Meghalaya         |                                  |
| 19       | Mizoram           | 2                                |
| 20       | Nagaland          | 12                               |
| 21       | Odisha            | 86                               |
| 22       | Puducherry        | 2                                |
| 23       | Rajasthan         | 23                               |
| 24       | Tamil Nadu        | 75                               |
| 25       | Telangana         | 22                               |
| 26       | Tripura           | 4                                |
| 27       | Uttar Pradesh     | 49                               |
| 28       | Uttarakhand       | 4                                |
| 29       | West Bengal       | 30                               |
| 30       | Grand Total       | 705                              |

## Annexure referred to in reply to part (e) of Lok Sabha Unstarred Question no. 2844 to be answered on 10.03.2026.

Details of components under AVYA Y scheme are as follows-

- 1\_ IPSrC(Integrated Programme for Senior Citizens)- Under IPSrC, grant-in-aid is provided to the organisations for maintenance of Senior Citizen Homes (Sr.CH), Continuous Care Homes (CCH); Mobile Medicare Units (MMU) and Physiotherapy Clinics. The objective of the scheme is to improve the quality of life of the Senior Citizens, especially indigent senior citizens by providing basic amenities like shelter; food, medical and active ageing:
- SAPSrC (State Action Plan for   Senior Citizens)The Government of  India perceives a major and critical role of all the States/ UTs Governments in welfare of senior citizens: is expected to plan into account their local considerations and frame their own State Action Plans for the welfare of their senior citizens. Under SAPSrC, the Ministry releases funds to the StatesMUTs for implementation of their action plans. SAPSIC is being implemented since FY 201920. taking
- iii. RVY (Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana)- The scheme aims for providing Physical Aids and Assisted Living Devices for Senior Citizens below poverty line and with the family income not exceed to 15,000/-per month: The scheme is   being implemented since 2017.
- iv. Elderline- The National  Helpline for Sr Citizens (14567) is to generate awareness about the Act; Schemes Programmes being executed by different Central & State Governments and to provide platform to redress grievances of Sr Citizens across the country:
- supply and increasing demand in the field of geriatric caregivers so as to provide more professional services to the senior citizens and also to create a cadre of professional care   givers in the field of geriatrics   Considering the acute  shortage of Geriatric Caregivers and the increasing demand in the market, the Department has decided to trained 1,00,000 trainees in the field of Geriatric Care givers in order to meet the demand.
- vi. Other Initiatives for Senior Citizens- In order to solve the problems of healthy and productive ageing, several initiatives are being done across the country. The proposed initiatives are aimed at involving the elders in building up knowledge which can be useful for the society as a whole:
- vii: Seniorcare Ageing Growth Engine (SAGE)- The main objective is to promote outof-the-box and innovative solutions for the commonly faced problems, innovative start- ups would be identified and encouraged for developing products, processes and services for the welfare of the elderly.

## Annexure referred to in reply to part (e) of Lok Sabha Unstarred Question no. 2844 to be answered on 10.03.2026.

The NPHCE is an articulation of the International and national  commitments of the Government as envisaged under the UN Convention on the   Rights of  Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD); National Policy on Older Persons (NPOP) adopted by the Government of India in 1999 & Section 20 of <The Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act; 2007* dealing with provisions for medical care of Senior Citizens The objective of  NPHCE is to provide   accessible, affordable, and   high-quality   long-term, comprehensive and dedicated healthcare services to the elderly:

## Components of the Program:

1. National\_Health\_Mission Component; Primary Secondary care   service delivery through District Hospitals (DH), Community Health Centres (CHC), Primary
2. 2\_ Tertiary\_Component:\_(Rashtriya\_Varisth Jan\_Swasthya\_Yojana ) These services are being provided though Regional Geriatric Centres (RGCs) located Medical colleges and two National Centres of Aging (NCAs) one in AIIMS, Ansari New Delhi and another in Madras Medical College, Chennai. Nagar,
3. 3 Research: A Longitudinal Ageing Study in India (LASI) project:-The LASI is a nationally representative survey of older persons in India is undertaken through International Institute of Population Sciences (IIPS); Mumbai. being

Package of Services: The program has two components for provision of geriatric health care services i.e: district/ sub-district level component and tertiary level component: The package of services provided to elderly people at both levels is as given below.

## Sub Centre:

- a Health Education related to healthy ageing; environmental modifications, nutritional requirements, life styles and behavioural changes
- b Special attention to home bound bedridden elderly persons and provide training to the family health care providers in looking after the disabled elderly persons.

Primary Health Centre: Weekly   geriatric  clinic by a trained Medical Officer  (MO): Services would include: conducting health assessment of the elderly persons and simple investigation including blood sugar; etc.

## Community Health Centre

- a. Biweekly geriatric Clinic and Rehabilitation services to staff and rehabilitation worker at CHCs.
2. b\_ Domiciliary visits by the rehabilitation worker   will be undertaken for bed-ridden elderly and counseling to family members for care such patients.

## District Hospitals:

- Dedicated Geriatric OPD services, In-door admissions through 10 bedded geriatric ward, laboratory investigations and rehabilitation services
- Provide services for the elderly patients referred by the CHCs/PHCs etc. and refer severe cases to tertiary level hospitals.

## Tertiary Level

## (A) Regional Geriatric Centers:

- a\_ Provide tertiary level services for complicated/serious Geriatric Cases referred from Medical Colleges, District Hospitals and below.
- Providing training to the trainers of identified District hospitals and medical colleges
- b Conduct post graduate courses in Geriatric Medicine. Each RGC to produce 2 post graduates (MD geriatrics) every year:
- d. Developing/and updating Training modules, guidelines and IEC materials.
- e\_ Research on specific elderly diseases.

## (B) National Center of Ageing

- a High level tertiary care with multidisciplinary clinical services involving medical and surgical disciplines.
- b Specialised OPD care in various clinical disciplines.  Special clinics like memory clinic, fall and syncope clinic, frail elderly clinic, aids and appliances clinic, implants and cosmetic clinic.
- C care centre for: Investigations,   rehabilitation;,  respite care, dementia care ,continence care Day
- d. In patient care for: Intensive care, acute rehabilitation, diagnostic and therapeutic services, term rehabilitation service. long
- f. Developing evidence based treatment protocols for Geriatric diseases prevalent in the country.
- e Human resources development in all sub-specialties of Geriatric Medicine

## Annexure referred to in reply to part (e) of Lok Sabha Unstarred Question no. 2844 to be answered on 10.03.2026.

Under the NSAP programme, the old aged, widows, and disabled persons belonging to Below  Poverty Line (BPL) and fulfilling eligibility criteria   prescribed in the NSAP guidelines, are provided financial assistance, in form of pension, ranging from Rs.200/-to Rs.500/- p.m. and in the case of death of the breadwinner of such family, lump sum assistance of Rs. 20,000/- is given to the bereaved family One of the components under the scheme is Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pension Scheme under which assistance of < 200/- per month to persons in the age group of 60-79 years is provided and < 500/- per month to persons of 80 years and above is provided

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