NEW DELHI: The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment plans to come up with a proposal on creating a pool of caregivers for the elderly as a part of its national action plan on the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens (MWPSC) Act.
While the ministry will come up with a set of broad guidelines, the states will be responsible for implementing specific guidelines and empanelment of agencies which will employ caregivers.
“The ministry will formulate a broad set of guidelines for the states. They will come up with state-specific guidelines depending on their demographics. Empanelment will also ensure safety of the elderly citizens who will employ caregivers,” said a ministry official, adding that the ministry is working out the modalities of the training programmes for caregivers.
Currently, the National Institute of Social Defence (NISD) runs courses for imparting skill training in caring for the elderly.
“However, for coming up with a pool of caregivers, the training programmes has to be scaled up. One of the options for states is to identify training centres and tie up with the NISD to follow the course at a larger scale. The ministry will coordinate with the Health Ministry in order work out if any training programme can be worked out,” said the official.
The modules will aim to train and sensitise caregivers about the work. Senior citizens will be informed how they can access legal aid and use technology effectively. The action plan aims to raise awareness for proper utilisation of the government schemes.
The ministry has drafted the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens (Amendment) Bill to address the gaps in the Act.