Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana

Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment of Government of India has launched Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana in the year 2017. Many senior citizens of India suffers from some sort of disabilities related to old age. The Government provides physical aids and assisted-living devices for such senior citizens belonging to BPL category under this scheme. In this article, we look at the Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana scheme in detail.

Objectives of Rahtriya Vayoshri Yojana

Census figures of 2011 shown that the population of senior citizens in India is 10.38 crore. Further, more than 70% of the population of senior citizens are living in rural areas of our country and in that 52 percentages of the senior citizens suffers from old age-related disabilities. The Government of India has thus introduced this Central scheme to provide assisted living devices and physical aids for senior citizens suffering from infirmities or disabilities.

Duration

The proposal for implementation of Rahtriya Vayoshri Yojana scheme was announced in the 2015-2016 financial year budget. Pursuant to this, The Rahtriya Vayoshri Yojana scheme duration will be 3 years (2017 to 2020). The scheme has been implemented through the following agencies:

Artificial Limbs Manufacturing Corporation (ALIMCO)
PSUs under the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment Department

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility criteria to avail the benefits of Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana are explained below.

The age of the senior citizen should be 60 years.
This scheme is only applicable to senior citizens who are below poverty line i.e., BPL card holder.

Disability or Infirmity

Senior citizens suffering from the below mentioned disability or infirmity will be provided with assisted-living devices which can restore near normalcy in their bodily function, overcoming the disability manifested.

Low vision
Hearing impairment
Loss of teeth
Locomotors disability

Aids and Assisted-Living Devices

Depending upon the physical impairment of senior citizens the below-mentioned aids and assisted-living devices will be provided to all eligible beneficiaries of Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana.

Walking sticks
Elbow crutches
Walkers / Crutches
Tripods / Quad pods
Hearing aids
Artificial dentures
Spectacles

Beneficiary Selection

Beneficiaries in each district of India will be identified by the State Governments or Union Territories Administrations through a Committee chaired by the Deputy Commissioner or District Collector. 30% of the beneficiaries in each district will be women. For identification of senior citizens belonging to BPL category, State Government, UT Administration or District Level Committee will collect data of BPL beneficiaries receiving Old Age Pension under the NSAP or any other Start Government Schemes.

Distribution of Devices

Aids and assisted-living devices will be distributed to all eligible senior citizens in camp mode and this distribution is for free of cost. In case of multiple disabilities or infirmities manifested in one person, the assistive devices will be given in respect of each disability.

District Covered under RVY

Almost all states and Union Territories major cities in India is covered under RVY scheme. List of districts where the scheme has implemented is given here.

S. NO.	State / UT	DISTRICT
1.	Andaman and Nicobar Islands	South Andaman, Middle & North Andaman
2.	Andhra Pradesh	Vishakhapatnam
		Nellore
3.	Arunachal Pradesh	West Kameng
		Pasinghat
4.	Assam	Kamrup
		Sonipur
5.	Bihar	Buxar
		West Champaran
6.	Chandigarh	Chandigarh
7.	Chhattisgarh	Raipur
		Bastar
8.	Dadra and Nagar Haveli	Dadra and Nagar Haveli
9.	Daman and Diu	Daman and Diu
10.	Goa	North Goa
		South Goa
11.	Gujarat	Vadodara
		Ahmadabad
12.	Haryana	Karnal
		Ambala
13.	Himachal Pradesh	Shimla
		Hamirpur
14.	Jammu and Kashmir	Srinagar
		Udhampur
15.	Jharkhand	Gumla
		Ranchi
16.	Karnataka	South Bangalore
		Dharwad
17.	Kerala	Kochi
		Thiruvananthapuram
18.	Madhya Pradesh	Khandwa
		Ujjain
19.	Maharashtra	Nagpur
		Dhule
20.	Delhi	Karol Bagh
		Chandni Chowk
21.	Odisha	Sundargarh
		Angul
22.	Punjab	Gurdaspur
		Hoshiarpur
23.	Rajasthan	Jhalawar
		Bikaner
24.	Tamil Nadu	Kanyakumari
		South Chennai
25.	Telangana	Hyderabad
		Karimnagar
26.	Uttar Pradesh	Lucknow
		Varanasi
27.	Uttarakhand	Haridwar
		Almora
28.	West Bengal	Asansol
		Darjeeling
29.	Manipur	Imphal (West) Imphal (East)
30.	Meghalaya	East Jaintia Hills Ri Bhoi
31.	Mizoram	Aizwal Champhai
32.	Nagaland	Dimapur Kohima
33.	Tripura	Unokoti Dhalai
34.	Lakshadweep	Lakshadweep
35.	Puducherry	Olukara Karaikal
36.	Sikkim	East Sikkim South Sikkim