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| Poorest Areas Civil Society Programme |
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Community Mobilisation and Advocacy for the Elderly: Improving Access To Social Welfare Schemes
In India, a number of central and state government schemes have been devised to mitigate problems faced by the aged, ranging from pensions to medical aid, travel concessions, preferential interest rates. Further, the destitute aged also qualifies as potential beneficiaries of a slew of poverty reduction/ relief schemes.
But there is very little mass awareness on the same. Moreover, benefits of the scheme rarely ever reach the aged if they are poor and illiterate, if they live in remote backward regions and if they belong to socially oppressed communities.
The prevalent poor structures of communication, implementation and enforcement have exacerbated the problem of accessibility to these schemes and services. In addition, older persons rarely receive support from panchayats and other formal political institutions; and there are virtually no associations/ institutions working for their interests at the local level.
The prime objective the of PACS programme is to strengthen the awareness and capabilities of poor people to demand and use their rights – political, economic, social and human – and services to improve their own lives. The programme seeks to achieve this through a network of Civil Society Organisation working for the poor.
The project designed by HelpAge India is to raise awareness amongst the older persons of the most backward districts of India on the rights and social welfare schemes that exist for them and to facilitate greater access of the benefits. The proposed project is implemented in partnership with local Civil Society Organisations.
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Objectives
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Improve the awareness level and direct access of poor older persons to social security, food security and habitat security in 9 districts of 3 PACS states. |
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Advocacy for the concerns of the aged, both in the local government as well as at the district, state and national levels, and widen the agenda of ageing with other CSOs in PACS state. |
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| Project Plan |
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The direct field intervention of the project will be in 900 villages of 9 districts in three states. The districts are from the list of 100 poorest districts of India. These districts are Ranchi, Hazaribagh, Gumla (Jharkhand), Betul, Mandala, Chindwara (Madhya Pradesh) and Banda, Unnao, Barabanki (Uttar Pradesh). 9 local NGOs would be our project partners in field intervention.
In addition about 90 local civil society organisations would be sensitized on ageing issues in all the six PACS states. Baseline surveys of villages, district hand books, participatory research studies, community mobilisation efforts and related documentation would be used to launch and carryout issue based advocacy at all levels – village to national.
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