Older people and persons with disabilities often need help that money alone cannot give. They may need a wheelchair, a hearing aid, a safe home or a caring voice on the phone.
This lesson sorts the main schemes by who they help and how the help reaches them. Pay special attention to the difference between funding a person and funding an organisation.
Assistive device: a tool that helps a person do daily tasks despite age or disability. A walking stick, a hearing aid and a wheelchair are common examples. It gives back independence that would otherwise be lost. Many welfare schemes exist mainly to supply these.
Grant-in-aid: money the government gives to another body to carry out a task. Think of a school getting funds to run a programme. The government does not run the programme itself. It pays others to deliver it.
Rehabilitation: helping a person regain skills, health and confidence after illness, injury or disability. A person may need months of therapy, not one device. It aims at a full and independent life. It is usually delivered over time.
Geriatric caregiver: a trained worker who looks after older people. Such a worker helps with food, medicine, movement and company. Trained carers matter because a home or a device means little without skilled help. The need for them grows as the population ages.
What Help Do Senior Citizens Get?
What is AVYAY and what does it fund?
AVYAY is an umbrella approach to elderly welfare. It moves away from scattered measures towards one joined-up system of support.
One strong pillar is the Integrated Programme for Senior Citizens (IPSrC). It supports:
- Senior citizen homes.
- Continuous care homes.
- Mobile medical units.
- Physiotherapy units.
For an older person left without family help, such a home is more than a shelter. It gives food, care and company in one place.
Sources: PIB blog, AVYAY and elderly welfare.
Check 1
The Integrated Programme for Senior Citizens supports homes and mobile medical units.
What does Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana give?
Under the Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana (RVY), assistive devices are given free to economically weaker senior citizens. Their problems must come from age-related disabilities.
More than 46 lakh devices have reached about 8.43 lakh beneficiaries. That is several devices per person on average, such as a stick, a hearing aid or a wheelchair.
Devices are handed out at Pradhan Mantri Divyasha-Vayoshri Kendras (PMD-VKs). Eligible seniors can simply walk in to receive them.
Check 2
RVY gives free assistive devices to economically weaker senior citizens.
What is Elderline 14567?
Elderline 14567 is the national helpline for senior citizens. An older person can call to ask for information, report distress or seek support.
Over 29 lakh calls have been received. That shows the helpline is reaching people. It also shows how many older people feel alone or unsafe.
In simple terms, the helpline treats loneliness as a welfare problem, not only a personal one.
Why does the scheme train caregivers?
Under PM-SPECIAL, part of AVYAY, more than 35,000 trainees have been trained as geriatric caregivers. This links welfare to jobs.
The care economy is expected to grow as the population ages. Training caregivers helps older people and creates work for young ones.
A device or a home is only as good as the person who delivers care. That is why carers now count as a policy target too.
Check 3
PM-SPECIAL trains geriatric caregivers.
How Does Help Reach Persons With Disabilities?
How do ADIP and DDRS differ?
The ADIP scheme gives grants-in-aid to implementing agencies. These include National Institutes, Composite Regional Centres and ALIMCO, the artificial limbs maker. The agencies then help needy persons get modern, standard aids and appliances.
The Deendayal Disabled Rehabilitation Scheme (DDRS) works differently. It gives financial help to NGOs for rehabilitation projects.
| Feature | ADIP | DDRS |
|---|---|---|
| Money goes to | Implementing agencies | NGOs |
| Purpose | Aids and appliances for needy persons | Rehabilitation projects |
| Typical need | A device, such as a limb or hearing aid | Ongoing care and training |
So ADIP is device-focused, while DDRS funds the long-term work of rehabilitation.
Sources: PIB, four years of the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities.
Check 4
DDRS gives financial assistance to NGOs for rehabilitation projects.
Which scholarships support students with disabilities?
Scholarships help students stay in school. They cover different stages:
- Pre-Matric: classes IX and X, launched in 2014-15.
- Post-Matric: class XI up to post-graduation, launched in 2014-15.
- Top Class Education: degree or diploma courses in 240 institutes such as IITs, IIITs and IIMs, launched in April 2015.
Together they form a ladder. A student can be supported from school all the way to a top institute.
Check 5
The Pre-Matric scholarship for students with disabilities covers classes IX and X.
What is the Indian Sign Language centre?
The Indian Sign Language Research and Training Centre (ISLRTC) was set up on 28 September 2015. It trains people to teach and research Indian Sign Language.
Its first Indian Sign Language Dictionary of 3,000 words was launched on 23 March 2018. It covers legal, medical, academic and technical terms, along with daily words.
The dictionary helps deaf learners join classrooms and courts on equal terms.
What does DDRS aim to achieve?
DDRS wants persons with disabilities to reach and keep their best possible physical, sensory, intellectual, psychological and social functioning. This is a wider goal than handing over one device.
The numbers show the scale. In 2014-15, DDRS covered 640 NGOs. In 2017-18, it covered 520 NGOs, released Rs 60 crore, and reached about 35,125 beneficiaries.
The scheme was revised and streamlined from 1 April 2018. A change in the number of NGOs does not always mean a change in the need.
Is there support for higher research?
Yes. The National Fellowship for Persons with Disabilities backs M.Phil and Ph.D. study in any university recognised by the UGC. It offers 200 fellowships a year.
The National Overseas Scholarship, launched in 2014-15, helps students with disabilities study abroad.
So support does not stop at school. It continues through college, research and even study overseas.
Check 8
The National Fellowship for Persons with Disabilities supports M.Phil and Ph.D. study.
What is the UDID project?
The Unique Disability Identification (UDID) project builds a national database of persons with disabilities. It also gives each person a unique ID card.
One card with a disability certificate means a person need not prove the disability again and again. A single record also helps the government plan better.
About 6.11 lakh e-UDID cards had been issued across 17 States and Union Territories.
What Pattern Lies Behind These Schemes?
How do funding routes differ?
Most schemes follow one of two routes. Knowing the route helps you predict how an unfamiliar scheme works.
- Through agencies or NGOs: ADIP, DDRS and IPSrC pay bodies that deliver the service.
- Through a direct benefit: RVY devices and scholarships reach the person.
A well-defined need, such as a wheelchair, suits a device route. A complex, continuing need suits an organisation that can give care over time.
Sources: PIB blog, AVYAY and elderly welfare · PIB, four years of the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities.
Check 6
ADIP and DDRS both pass money through other bodies.
Why is the approach called holistic?
Older schemes helped in pieces. One gave a home, another gave a device, and a third gave advice. AVYAY tries to join these into one humane approach.
The shift matters because an older person may need all of them at once. A person with a hearing aid but no company, or a home but no doctor, is only half helped.
The helpline, the homes, the devices and the trained carers are therefore best seen as parts of one system.
What should you remember for exams?
Exams test firm facts. Keep these ready.
- RVY: 46 lakh devices to 8.43 lakh seniors.
- Elderline: 14567; over 29 lakh calls.
- ADIP funds agencies; DDRS funds NGOs.
- Pre-Matric: classes IX-X; Top Class: 240 institutes.
Match each scheme to its group and its funding route, and the list becomes easy to hold in mind.
Check 7
Elderline is the national helpline number 14567 for senior citizens.
MCQ on Welfare for Seniors and Persons with Disabilities
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