KOLKATA: The New Town Kolkata Development Authority (NKDA) officials have reached out to senior citizens living in the sparsely populated township, where some areas are still evolving. The elderly residents said they had been receiving calls from NKDA officials, asking about their health and requirement of essentials.
The state panchayat and rural development department officials have also stepped in to help senior citizens in New Town. They have sought the help of police and NKDA to identify the homes of elderly people, whom they contacted to take orders for grocery, vegetables, fish and meat that are being delivered to their doorsteps.
The officials of West Bengal Comprehensive Area Development Corporation, an autonomous agency under the panchayat department, are offering similar services following the minister Subrata Mukherjee’s suggestion.
The NKDA has distributed masks to the elderly so that they can wear it while stepping out of their homes. But the shortage of medicine at pharmacies in the township remains a sore point.
A medicine retailer said that the shops in New Town were trying to tie up with retailers in Kolkata to pick up the deliveries from wholesale agents and later supply them to the shops. Nearly all medicine shops have stopped offering discounts, citing additional expense on transportation.
Some senior citizens also pointed at the difficulty they faced in getting medicines from the central government’s health scheme dispensary in Salt Lake. NKDA officials have assured them that they will take up the issue with the competent authority and check whether some local medicines shops can be tagged with the Salt Lake dispensary.
The state panchayat and rural development department officials have also stepped in to help senior citizens in New Town. They have sought the help of police and NKDA to identify the homes of elderly people, whom they contacted to take orders for grocery, vegetables, fish and meat that are being delivered to their doorsteps.
The officials of West Bengal Comprehensive Area Development Corporation, an autonomous agency under the panchayat department, are offering similar services following the minister Subrata Mukherjee’s suggestion.
The NKDA has distributed masks to the elderly so that they can wear it while stepping out of their homes. But the shortage of medicine at pharmacies in the township remains a sore point.
A medicine retailer said that the shops in New Town were trying to tie up with retailers in Kolkata to pick up the deliveries from wholesale agents and later supply them to the shops. Nearly all medicine shops have stopped offering discounts, citing additional expense on transportation.
Some senior citizens also pointed at the difficulty they faced in getting medicines from the central government’s health scheme dispensary in Salt Lake. NKDA officials have assured them that they will take up the issue with the competent authority and check whether some local medicines shops can be tagged with the Salt Lake dispensary.
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