Clubs for Senior Citizens

The Haryana government has decided to set up 1,000 senior citizen clubs in its rural areas.

The Haryana government has decided to set up 1,000 senior citizen clubs in its rural areas. While the project makes all the right noises about facilitating ‘social interaction and socio-psychological support structures, besides providing a respectful place for senior citizens in the villages’, how the clubs will achieve these lofty goals is anybody’s wild turkey guess. Other than renting a room, spending Rs 15,000 per club to buy furniture, how the government plans to promote ‘productive and healthy ageing’ for the 25 million senior citizen population through these clubs is a big mystery.

According to the government spokesperson, “As is part of the tradition in the village, it will be a place for senior citizens to come together in the evenings, smoke hookahs and talk shop.” One wonders whether a Rs 1.6 crore budget project couldn’t have come up with smarter ideas for the elderly.

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Pallavi Polanki