By IANS
New Delhi : India, with over 70 million elderly people, should consider setting up employment bureaus for the elderly, a social worker suggested Saturday, saying “If our president and prime minister can work at this age” so could other old people.
Demanding an employment bureau in every government department, Guild of Service chairperson Mohini Giri said: “If our president and prime minister can work at this age, why can’t we?”
She added that there was an urgent need to create awareness among senior citizens that they should try to help themselves by having more networking with their close relatives and with other senior citizens of their area, so that they do not become victims of criminals.
Vice President Hamid Ansari, inaugurating a daylong seminar on ‘Contours of Ageing in India seeking Peace and Security’, stressed that the national focus should be not only on the younger generation that is contributing to the booming economy but also on the older people who have already contributed a lot.
Veteran journalist Kuldip Nayar said: “Old age is an opportunity and is not about having an extra chair in the corner of a home.”