The directive was issued on November 17, 2006, by Dr V S Niranjan ,Commissioner, Panchayats and Social Justice, Government of Madhya Pradesh (GoMP), under guidance from Wasim Akhtar, Secretary, Panchayats and Rural Development (GoMP).

The issue was raised at a state-level advocacy workshop organised by HelpAge India in Bhopal on July 20-21, 2006, in a session chaired by Wasim Akhtar.

Participants pointed out that the problems of the elderly were never included in the agendas of gram sabha or panchayat meetings, denying them a voice.

HelpAge India, which has been working for the cause of the elderly for several years, decided to take the issue up with the Madhya Pradesh government.

Initially, S K Sharma, Advocacy Officer for HelpAge India in Madhya Pradesh, and Shahab Syed, Chief Functionary of PACS Programme partner, Society for Rural Upliftment-Betul (SRUB), met Wasim Akhtar and discussed the matter with him.

The secretary expressed his support for the initiative.

Encouraged by this, the chief functionaries of HelpAge India’s partner CSOs in the PACS Programme forwarded a request letter to HelpAge India in Bhopal.

HelpAge, in turn, submitted the request with a covering letter to Wasim Akhtar, who subsequently directed Dr V S Niranjan to issue the directive.

Set up in 1978, HelpAge focuses on improved access to healthcare and eyecare facilities, community-based services, livelihood support, and training for the benefit of the elderly.

The organisation also supports welfare programmes like old age homes and daycare centres, and has initiated an Adopt-a-Grandparent scheme.

Under the PACS Programme, HelpAge works in the districts of Betul, Chhindwara and Mandla in Madhya Pradesh; Banda, Kanpur-Dehat and Unnao in Uttar Pradesh; and Ranchi, Hazaribag and Gumla in Jharkhand.

Through network partners, it seeks to improve awareness levels and access for poor, elderly persons in order to ensure social-economic, food and habitat security.

It is also involved in advocacy regarding the concerns of the elderly at the local, district, state and national levels.

As panchyats, which are nodal agencies for implementing community welfare and development work, pay little attention to the issues of the elderly, HelpAge has set up cluster-based vridha sanghs, or associations of elderly people, to enable members to voice their concerns in the gram sabha and at other forums.

To read a story on virdha sanghs, click here.