Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan will perform the State-level inauguration of the International Day of Older Persons celebrations organised by the Keralam government’s newly formed Department for Senior Citizens in the city on Thursday.
The department, said to be the first such in the country, has been formed for a more comprehensive and convergent approach to addressing the needs of the elderly to ensure their rights, welfare, dignity, and social participation.
The 36th International Day of Older Persons is centred round the theme ‘The Age of Longetivity: Rethinking Systems for Longer Lives.’ The day will be celebrated with the promise that a department exclusively for the elderly brings to areas such as elderly health care, safety, social security, and rehabilitation.
The Chief Minister will also inaugurate welfare schemes as part of the 100-day programme of the State government.
One of these is ‘Honour a home.’ Implemented with the idea of intergenerational interaction, the scheme will see school or college National Service Scheme (NSS) units associate with old-age homes or day care centres near them to implement activities for the elderly as per an annual calendar. Observances and festivals will be organised in these homes by the NSS units and the elderly brought to schools and colleges for participation in various activities and events such as skill development or digital literacy programmes to encourage students to spend time with the elderly and interact with them.
The scheme will be piloted in one home in each district initially.
A comprehensive portal developed in association with Information Kerala Mission (IKM) will also be launched by the Chief Minister.
The portal will have a module for an elderly survey, expected to be held next year. It will facilitate self-registration of the elderly so that only missing data need be gathered in survey mode.
The elderly will also be able to register on the portal in a step towards productive ageing. Accordingly, those above the age of 60 with semi-skilled to professional backgrounds will be able to register on the portal. Details such as educational qualifications will be included so that those who want to use the services of people in this age group in their local body can search for them, get their details, and reach out to them.
Another module will be related to vulnerability mapping of the elderly. Along with the elderly survey, a vulnerability scorecard will be prepared and the elderly classified from low to critically vulnerable in order to facilitate future planning.
A care giver registry will also be set up as part of the portal. Professional care givers can register on this portal as also establishments that provide the services of such professionals. It will be voluntary at the beginning and allow those in need of services of professional care givers to search for them, view their qualifications, experience, rating, and contact them.
Minister for Health K. Muraleedharan and Minister for Social Justice V.E. Abdul Gafoor will be the special guests at the function, presided over by Minister for Transport C.P. John.
The inaugural will be followed by a seminar ‘Elderly friendly Keralam – possibilities and challenges.’ Cultural programmes will follow.
Published – September 30, 2026 09:47 pm IST
