Senior Citizens of Jharkhand can travel at government expense to religious places

The Jharkhand government has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) to begin the chief minister's Mukhyamantri Tirth Darshan Yojana. This scheme will allow senior citizens of the BPL category to visit religious sites by train at state's expenses.
This has been reported in telegraphindia.com dated 7 September 2016.

Beneficiaries can avail of two religious trips in their lifetime - one within Jharkhand and one outside and, it is understood that the scheme might be launched on November 15, that is Statehood Day.
For a start, 1,000 devotees will be taken to Puri via train and the government will sponsor their food, accommodation, sight-seeing and medical requirements. Initially, two trains might run for the pilgrimage tour, but the entire travel package like sites to be visited, places where the trains would halt and other facilities would be decided by the government. AS explained by IRCTC, they are the facility provider and will provide whatever the state government wants.
As far as insurance and health facilities - in case of any death due to accident, the next to kin will get Rs 10 lakh. There will not be any special medical facility in the train, but necessary support will be provided at the stations. And, at the sites, guides and paramedics will be in attendance.


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Odisha gives a once-in-a-lifetime offer of free pilgrimage to senior citizens

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has launched the free pilgrimage scheme for senior citizens in the state. He has flagged off the first pilgrimage train to Rameswaram and Madurai from the Berhampur railway station in Ganjam district. The train is carrying more than 1000 people from 10 southern Odisha districts and they are on a nine-day tour to the religious sites in south India.
The state government would bear the complete tour expenditure of devotees inclusive of travel, accommodation, and medical expenses and it would be arranged through trains and buses.
This has been reported in thestatesman.com dated 26 July 2016.

This scheme is based on an announcement of the state government to make available a one-time financial assistance to senior citizens to undertake pilgrimage. It was a promise of the ruling Biju Janata Dal that had also promised it in its 2014 elections manifesto. This promise has now been fulfilled.
Thee are plans to send 2,000 more senior citizens on pilgrimage in next two phases from Sambalpur and Bhubaneswar railway stations. The scheme is applicable to senior citizens aged above 60 and they can travel to various pilgrim destinations including Haridwar-Rishikesh, Allahabad-Varanasi, and Rameswaram-Madurai.
Eligibility is for all those except those who pay income tax payee and those who are retired government employees. All others, irrespective of their religion, can avail the facility after attaining 60 years and can go on tours to holy places under the once-in-a-lifetime scheme. It will be a joint venture between the Odisha Tourism Development Corporation (OTDC) and the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) - an MOU has been signed for smooth management of the tour plans.


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Needless to say, Karnataka is trying to come to terms with the issue of security of its elderly. The existing socio-economic factors are increasingly pushing them into isolation and, hence, they are becoming all the more vulnerable. As per police records, murder of senior citizens accounted for nearly 8% of the total murders reported in the state in 2014 (124 out of 1,636). According to Census 2011, the elderly comprise about 8.4% of Karnataka's population of 61 million and, since last month, four senior citizens have been murdered in three separate incidents in Bengaluru - all of them were living alone. In one case, a couple was killed by an electrician and his friend who were seeking loan from them. The couple's son was away in the US. Then there was the case of an elderly woman who had come to take meditation classes in Bengaluru - she was killed in her home, her killers are still at large. In the third case, an elderly widow was allegedly killed by here relatives for gains - her techie son was staying separately. Of course, this is not a problem unique to Karnastaka or Bengaluru - it is very much an area that requires to be looked into by society. And - the local police can play a major role by maintaining constant contact with such elders - probably by phones if not by visits.


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There are innumerable ads appearing in the TV about Swatchh Bhrat Abhiyaan - the visuals promote the concept of cleanliness through messages that mention 'wash your hands with soap before meals'. And - side by side there is the news that 49 children of a government run home have one toothbrush and one tube of toothpaste between them.
This has been reported in zeenews.india.com dated 17 May 2016.

The incident has come to the forefront after National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) chairperson Justice H L Dattu described a pitiable sight that he had witnessed two years ago as a judge of the Supreme Court. He was on a visit to a government-aided home for the disabled and it was there that he came across his sight of 49 children using a single toothbrush and had just one tube of toothpaste.
He declined to elaborate on which state he saw this sight and has commented that such is the condition in most government-aided or government-run homes that house disabled children - they are the most neglected lot.He went on to add that while there was no dearth of government funding for homes meant for the elderly and disabled, the basic issue is the pilferage of money meant for those who need it the most.
Ever since he took over as the head of NHRC, he has been trying to set things right. NHRC has written to its special rapporteurs across states to visit homes for senior citizens and disabled children, and submit a report on the basic facilities available there. Let us hope that they can make a difference to the living conditions in homes for senior citizens and the disabled.


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#CastleHIlls #SanAntonio #seniorcitizen #WedgwoodApartments It was an 11-storey complex housing in Castle Hills named Wedgwood Apartments in which over 350 senior citizens used to stay in Texas. However, a fire broke out in the complex and five people have been killed while another 17 are hospitalized and over 80 remain unaccounted for.
The facility is located near San Antonio.
As per the Castle Hills City Manager, officials have not been able to account for about 80 residents of the Wedgwood Apartments – the firefighters had gone through the 11-story complex and did not come across any other victims.
In the opinion of the Manager, the unaccounted residents could have found refuge with family or could have left for the holiday before the incident of fire. Authorities are calling emergency contacts for those residents to confirm their whereabouts.
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Wedgwood Apartments was built in 1965 and its area is 260,000-square-foot. The building housed commercial tenants as well.