Government Launches Toll Free ‘Elder Line’ For Senior Citizens
Government has launched a pan India free helpline called Elder Line for senior citizens
India will have over 300 million senior citizens by 2050. People in this age group face various mental, emotional, financial, legal and physical challenges. The pandemic worsened the situation and brought many challenges - social isolation, financial difficulty, families troubled old relatives, they ignored them, did not help, etc. Because of these problems the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment in September 2021 launched the first pan-India toll-free helpline--14567--for senior citizens called the ‘Elder Line’. This helpline aims to provide free information and guidance on pension and legal issues, extend emotional support, and intervene in cases of abuse.Now with the helpline old people can easily get help. Tata Trusts and National Stock Exchange (NSE) Foundation are helping in operating the Elder Line.
Over the last four months, over 2 lakh calls have been received. Of these, nearly 40% calls were related to guidance on vaccines. Nearly 23% of calls were related to pension.
