Bhubaneswar: The Social Security & Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (SSEPD) Department in collaboration with United Nation Population Fund (UNFPA) organised a consultative meeting to formulate a revised Odisha Senior Citizens Policy here on Thursday.
Chairing the meeting, Principal Secretary of SSEPD Department Bishnupada Sethi said Odisha will have approximately 70 lakh senior citizens in 2026. They are not a homogenous group and special attention needs to be given to the complex variations within the senior citizen population. The State Government has given priority on development and promotion of participatory process, critical service delivery and empathetic initiatives for senior citizens, he added.
Issues of the senior citizens like cross-sectoral and demand strategic partnership across government departments, the public and private sectors, the non-government organisations, voluntary organisations, civil society and local communities were discussed.
It was concluded that revised State Policy for Senior Citizens must recognise that elderly people need sustainable support system to reduce their poverty and vulnerability, improve their health and wellbeing. Different strategic interventions such as income security, health security, safety, welfare, intergenerational bonding along with their participatory role for more contribution to the communities were also discussed.
Odisha Head of UNFPA Md. Nadeem Noor, Special Secretary of the Department Dillip K. Roy, Former State Information Commissioner and Social Activist Jagadanand, Director of BagchiShrishankar Cancer Centre and Research Institute Dr. Bidhu Kalyan Mohanty, Head of Policy Research and Advocacy, HelpAge India Ms. Anupama Datta, Prof. Dr. T.V. Sekhar from International Institution of Population Studies, Mumbai, Dr. Sanjeev Bakshi from IGNOU, Amarkantak, Madhya Pradesh, Prof. Dr. Asima Sahu from Ravenshaw University, and members of State Advisory Council for Senior Citizens were present in the meeting. Specialist Dr. Pramod K. Mallick coordinated the meeting.
The Odisha government had launched the Odisha State Senior Citizens Policy-2016 with emphasis on health, financial and physical security of the elderly.
