THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: What if the 60 minutes you spent helping an elderly person today earn you assistance in your hour of need, years later?
This is the principle behind Time Bank, a community-based mutual support system that Keralam plans to introduce statewide. The proposal assumes significance as nearly one in four people in the state is projected to be aged 60 and above by 2036.
The newly-established department of senior citizens has drawn up the proposal for Time Bank, treating voluntary service hours as a social resource and creating a mechanism for reciprocal community support. The concept was first introduced in Elikulam panchayat in Kottayam under the Kerala Development and Innovation Strategic Council (K-DISC).
“Under the proposed system, time that registered volunteers spend helping senior citizens will be digitally recorded and converted into time credits,” director of the department Arun S Nair told TNIE.
Though detailed guidelines are yet to be formalised, the department envisages allowing participants to redeem accumulated credits for assistance when required or transfer them to their family members, following models practised in countries such as the UK.
Since students may have to wait several years before they need to redeem the credits, the department is also exploring options to make them usable earlier, including as grace marks in academics or for travel and fuel coupons.
A digital platform will form the backbone of the system, incorporating volunteer registration, recording of service hours and a time-credit mechanism, supported by a mobile app or web portal and a management information system dashboard.
The department plans to mobilise volunteers through the National Service Scheme, NCC, Student Police Cadets, Scouts & Guides, Kudumbashree, youth clubs, educational institutions and residents’ associations.
Volunteers’ time to be digitally recorded
“Even able-bodied senior citizens can volunteer and avail themselves of similar assistance when they are in need,” Arun said. It will initially be piloted in select districts or local self-government institutions. Volunteer contributions will be digitally recorded, with certificates, recognition and other incentives proposed based on the quality of service.
Activities that count as services for the elderly include companionship visits, helping senior citizens with digital services such as smartphones, UPI and video calls, and organising reading clubs, indoor games and recreational activities. The action plan also lists storytelling, cultural programmes, health-awareness activities and voluntary support based on the needs of elderly-care institutions.
Meanwhile, the initiative also includes ‘Honor a Home’, which envisages long-term partnerships between educational institutions and elderly-care homes under the social justice department.
Under a ‘One Student-One Elderly Friend’ model, students will make monthly visits, organise cultural programmes, reading clubs and recreational activities, and document the life experiences of senior citizens. Birthdays, national days and festivals will also be celebrated jointly. CSR funding and crowdfunding are proposed as additional avenues to support the initiatives.
How it would work
Volunteers earn credits by helping senior citizens; every hour of service is digitally recorded
Credits earned can be redeemed for help or transferred to relatives
Students may use credits for grace marks, travel coupons
Senior citizens can volunteer and earn credits too
Digital platform will track volunteers and credits
Volunteers will be mobilised through NSS, NCC, Kudumbashree
