Srinagar, Oct. 1 -- By B L Verma

On this International Day of Older Persons, my ministry can point to an impressive ledger: lakhs of senior citizens helped and crores spent.

Since 2014-15, old age homes and continuous care homes under the IPSrC programme, run by non-governmental organisations, panchayats and local bodies, have assisted more than 10.76 lakh senior citizens.

Government money for the effort has climbed from about Rs.15 crore a year to more than Rs.124 crore. Camps under the Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana have handed more than 53 lakh wheelchairs, hearing aids, walking sticks and spectacles to over 9 lakh people, roughly six items per person.

Those figures describe real help.

Spectacles restore print, a hearing aid restores v...