By Bizodisha Bureau, Bhubaneswar, October 11, 2019: Older people require continued focus on active participation, self-fulfillment, independence, care and dignified existence, Odisha Assembly speaker Surjya Narayan Patro said on Friday.

Inaugurating a public meeting held here on the occasion of observance of International Day of Older Persons (IDOP)-2019, Patro underscored the need for care of aged person by their children. He was speaking at public meeting organized by the Regional Resource & Training Center (RRTC), run by National Resources Centre for Women Development (NRCWD) sponsored by Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment (MSJ&E), Government of India.

Earlier in the morning more than 1000 participants including senior citizens, students, social activists, volunteers, govt. officials, chief functionaries of NGOs participated in the walkathon (mass) rally from press square to rail auditorium showing placards and shouting slogans to create awareness among the people about various issues of senior citizens. Also a health camp for older citizens was organized.

Endorsing Patro’s views, the chief speaker and Padmashri Dr. Prafulla Kumar Jena said though he is 90 years old, he remains active intellectually. Jena advised the older persons in the audience not to sit idle, but keep continuing activities, like gardening, cleaning, planting trees and other activities of their choice.

Speaking on the occasion, additional secretary from union ministry of social justice & empowerment (MSJ&E), Mrs Upma Srivastava hinted at the unveiling of a new policy for older citizens sooner than later. Dr. H.C Sridhara Channakeshava Ranga Reddy, deputy director of government of India managed National Institute of Self Defence (NISD) spoke about the various governmental schemes for senior citizens and urged senior citizens to take advantage of these schemes.

Presiding over the meeting, senior journalist, Nageshwar Patnaik urged the government to take cue from other countries and focus on the dignity and equality for older persons in the proposed policy for senior citizens. The secretary of NRCWD, Mr. Sukanta Kumar Parida welcomed all the participants and highlighted the importance of the programme.

The public meeting was followed by a technical session where experts discussed about various issues of senior citizens.