MLA Raghupati Bhat said on Tuesday that an office would be provided to the Udupi Senior Citizens' Association at Ajjarkad here shortly.
Mr. Bhat was speaking at the National Solidarity Day function organised by the association here.
Promise
Mr. Bhat said the office of the Revenue Inspector at Ajjarkad would be shifted and the premises would be provided to the association. The Department of Libraries would be urged to open a small library on the same premises so that elders could borrow books.
As the office was located near the Bhujanga Park it would allow senior citizens to go for a stroll and relax. Nearly 15,000 senior citizens in the district had been registered under the Antyodaya scheme. Over 41,000 senior citizens had been brought under the Sandhya Suraksha scheme and were receiving a monthly pension of Rs. 400. The Sandhya Suraksha scheme was popular in the rural areas where the beneficiaries felt financially empowered as they had some money with them to spend. Nearly 14,000 persons in the district received old age pension.
The Bhujanga Park would be renovated at a cost of Rs. 2 crore.
A walking track, a skating rink, and a stage would be built at the park. A children's corner too would come up in the park.
The renovation work of the Bhujanga Park would be taken up by the Nirmiti Kendra after the rainy season, Mr. Bhat said.
Association president K. Vishwajna Shetty welcomed the gathering.
Secretary C.S. Rao read the list of demands of senior citizens. Joint secretary H. Vishwanath Hegde proposed a vote of thanks. The former president K. Narayan Shetty and district Senior Citizens Welfare Officer Niranjan Bhat were present.
