New Delhi: Amid Covid-19 crisis, Niti Aayog with the support of district Administration and Piramal Foundation started 'Surakshit Dada Dadi Nana Nani' campaign in May 2020. It has supported over 1 million senior citizens (as on August 15, 2020) in eight Indian states.
Over 17,000 grievances have been solved including access to food, medicines and pension schemes under SDDNN scheme.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi also insisted on special care to senior citizens. In one of the addresses, he said," Take special care of the elderly in your homes especially those who have a chronic disease. We have to take extra care of them and keep them safe from Coronavirus"
The program was e- launched by Niti Aayog and Piramal Foundation on May 5th to ensure the well-being of 2.9 million senior citizens through active involvement of volunteers in 28 aspirational districts of eight states as senior citizens are more vulnerable to virus due to underlying medical conditions and weaker immune system.
Initially confined to 28 districts, Niti Aayog scaled the campaign to 112 districts across the country, which was implemented with the help of district authorities, local and national NGOs, and social workers. After the extension, the campaign will be able to help over 13 million senior citizens.
Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant expressed satisfaction over joint efforts to ensure the safety of senior citizens. He said: "Seamless collaboration between stakeholders has been The thrust of aspirational districts programme. To tackle COVID-19 we have devised campaigns like 'Suraksha Dada Dadi Nana Nani' to ensure that the elderly are fully protected."
Aspirational districts in the state of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh were able to reach to close to 3.20 lakh and 1.95 lakh senior citizens respectively. In Ramanathapuram of Tamilnadu, over 52000 senior citizens were reached through the door to door campaign.
Over 10,000 volunteers from government staff in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh have joined the campaign violin Tamil Nadu more than 75000 self-help group members came forward as volunteers the largest number of volunteers have been engaged in Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan.
Ajay Piramal, Chairman Piramal group said, "The foundation is based on the value of Seva Bhav where we tirelessly to bring a positive difference in the lives of people it is a Seva Bhav that has brought our staff and so many volunteers to support the aspirational districts"
The mission was able to resolve over 17000 grievances with the help of district administration of which the majority were related to food.
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