ANTARA BOSE
Jamshedpur, Sept 9: Senior citizens in Jamshedpur now have a network that shall take care of them in need. Former Tata Steel managing director and Padma Bhushan Jamshed J Irani launched the Kinfolks Aegis Wisdom Club 60 at the Ramada Hotel at Bistupur on Friday.
The function was also attended by Daisy Irani, wife of J.J. Irani; former vice president HRM, Tata Steel Niroop Mohanty and corporate consultant Rupa Mohanty.
The Wisdom Club 60 conceptualised about more than a year ago is an agency and network to provide essential services, care services and companionship to the senior community in Jamshedpur.
With about 15 million senior citizens in India, an initiative to help senior citizens is a welcome move. A survey was carried out among a number of elderly people in the city last year to know the response about the initiative and the response was positive. Jamshedpur has a large number of senior citizens whose wards are either settled in other cities or abroad making life lonely for the parents who live here.
The Wisdom Club 60 + care club will offer a round the clock call centre to address emotional and medical needs. There will be a WhatsApp group to connect all the members to avoid loneliness at this age. Timely medical check ups and social programmes shall also be organised. Fun activities like trekking, dance sessions shall also be a part of the initiative. All services shall be based on paid membership.
“Many corporate executives prefer to settle here post retirement for a number of reasons. Good life, facilities, easy transportation and many more. However, their children leave the city for better opportunities in the metropolitan and abroad. These people miss their children in festivals, special occasions and the reasons are genuine. They suffer a disconnect. Thus the idea of the Wisdom Club 60 care club is here to fill the gap, ” said Govind Madhav Sharan, director, Kinfolks Aegis Wisdom Club 60+.
Recently Ratan Tata too launched a similar initiative in Mumbai called the GoodFellows that aims to provide young generation companionship to the elderly in cities like Mumbai, Chennai, Pune and Bengaluru.
“Children have their life and so do we. This network I hope shall help senior citizens to let them enjoy the second innings of life. With the network, I guess we will have a very good time that people never expect usually,” said Purabi Ghosh, one of the members of the Wisdom Club 60 +.
