Long Term Care Infrastructure For Senior Citizens

06 Feb 2026 CW Team

Atal Vayo Abhyudaya Yojana (AVYAY) has been in effect since 1 April 2021 to coordinate welfare for older persons. The Integrated Programme for Senior Citizens (IPSrC) under AVYAY provides grant-in-aid for Senior Citizen Homes, Continuous Care Homes, Mobile Medicare Units and physiotherapy clinics; IPSrC supports 705 Senior Citizen Homes, 13 Continuous Care Homes, 17 Mobile Medicare Units and three physiotherapy clinics.

Under the Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana (RVY), eligible senior citizens with age related disability receive assistive devices for low vision, hearing, dental prostheses and loco-motor disabilities. To date, 0.793 million (mn) beneficiaries have benefitted under RVY. The ministry is rolling out PM-SPECIAL to train geriatric caregivers and bridge the demand-supply gap in eldercare services. The approach aims to improve the quality and accessibility of services at local level.

Elderline (14567) offers a national helpline for information, guidance and emotional support and the ministry is enhancing technology, call capacity and outreach to increase accessibility. The Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007 provides for Maintenance Tribunals and Appellate Tribunals; tribunals must dispose of maintenance applications within 90 days, extendable by a maximum of 30 days in exceptional circumstances. The minister of state for social justice and empowerment provided the information in a written reply to the Lok Sabha. The ministry said further measures will be taken to strengthen long term care systems.

The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment is implementing schemes to strengthen long term care, assisted living and support systems for senior citizens nationwide. The Longitudinal Ageing Study in India (LASI) under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare found that 23.8 per cent of persons aged 60 years and above have at least one limitation in Activities of Daily Living (ADL), indicating care dependency. Policy measures target both community and institutional care. Atal Vayo Abhyudaya Yojana (AVYAY) has been in effect since 1 April 2021 to coordinate welfare for older persons. The Integrated Programme for Senior Citizens (IPSrC) under AVYAY provides grant-in-aid for Senior Citizen Homes, Continuous Care Homes, Mobile Medicare Units and physiotherapy clinics; IPSrC supports 705 Senior Citizen Homes, 13 Continuous Care Homes, 17 Mobile Medicare Units and three physiotherapy clinics. Under the Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana (RVY), eligible senior citizens with age related disability receive assistive devices for low vision, hearing, dental prostheses and loco-motor disabilities. To date, 0.793 million (mn) beneficiaries have benefitted under RVY. The ministry is rolling out PM-SPECIAL to train geriatric caregivers and bridge the demand-supply gap in eldercare services. The approach aims to improve the quality and accessibility of services at local level. Elderline (14567) offers a national helpline for information, guidance and emotional support and the ministry is enhancing technology, call capacity and outreach to increase accessibility. The Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007 provides for Maintenance Tribunals and Appellate Tribunals; tribunals must dispose of maintenance applications within 90 days, extendable by a maximum of 30 days in exceptional circumstances. The minister of state for social justice and empowerment provided the information in a written reply to the Lok Sabha. The ministry said further measures will be taken to strengthen long term care systems.

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