Senior citizens in the fast developing town of Pala have got a lot to cheer about in the new year.
The Pala municipality is in the final stages of opening a park exclusively for the elderly, which will offer a wide range of activities to meet their physical, emotional and social needs.
The project, executed under the Sayamprabha scheme of the State government, envisages extending a helping hand to senior citizens in the twilight years of their life.
The park, set up at a cost of ₹15 lakh on the bank of the Llalam stream near the Mini Civil Station here, boasts facilities for film screening and space for exhibition. The senior citizens will be offered free food at least two times a day, in addition to medical check-ups, counselling, yoga training, meditation, among other things.
A walkers’ path has been laid and benches have been provided for the senior citizens to spend their time. Besides, toilet and restroom facilities have been set up. In the first phase, it will have the capacity to accommodate a maximum of 50 persons while the facilities will be expanded gradually to accommodate more persons.
As per estimates by the civic authorities, 21% of the population in Pala municipality fall under the category of senior citizens.
According to Biji Jojo, chairperson of the municipality, a monitoring committee comprising ward councillor, doctors and police Sub Inspector has been constituted for the supervision of the project.
Free space
The municipal authority also plans to allocate the space free of cost for conducting meetings by the local body and gatherings of the Kudumbashree or various residents associations.