By IANS,
Kolkata : In a bid to make life easier for the elderly, police here have joined hands with a NGO called The Bengal to start a project for providing valuable legal and medical help to senior citizens.
Under the project named Pranam, senior citizens only need to fill up forms giving their address, phone number and blood group to avail the facility through a 24-hour helpline.
The elderly will get medical support on priority from 15 private hospitals, who will send their ambulances along with a doctor. The hospitals will admit the patient if the situation demands.
In case a senior citizen is unable to bear the expense of the treatment at a private hospital, he will be transferred to a state-run hospital after initial treatment.
Police Commissioner Gautam Mohan Chakraborty said Sunday that senior citizens unable to come to the Pranam office at Ballygunge police station can fill up these forms at home.
“If they make a phone call someone will be sent to their places with the forms,” Chakraborty told IANS.
The project was unveiled a few days ago, with the first two forms filled up by 95-year-old Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) patriarch Jyoti Basu and reclusive 78-year old actress Suchitra Sen.
“People tend to become impatient with age. We need patient hearing,” said eminent writer Sunil Gangopadhyay.
The NGO said it would try to provide every kind of facility to the senior citizens registered with them.