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Our Correspondent
Imphal, Oct. 1 (EMN): International Day of Older Persons, 2022 was celebrated under the aegis of the department of Social Welfare in Imphal on Saturday.
Chief Minister N Biren Singh, Health Minister Dr. Sapam Ranjan, Social Welfare Minister Heikham Dingo and Additional Chief Secretary (Social Welfare) P Vaiphei were present during the celebration.
Addressing the gathering, Biren Singh stressed the need for a stringent Act suitable in Manipur, to deal with those people who ill-treat their parents and force them to stay at old age homes.
He informed that the state is in process to increase the pension amount under Manipur Old Age Pension Scheme(MOAPS) and Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pension(IGNOAP) from INR 200 per month to INR 1000 per month for beneficiaries above 80 years of age.
Around 25,000 older persons will be benefited by this initiative costing about INR 20 crore from the state exchequer, he said. Around 16,000 additional beneficiaries have been provided old age pensions under MOAPS this year.
The state had also introduced “Chief Minister’s Widow Pension Scheme” and 10,000 widows have been provided widow pensions of INR 500 per month.
Later sharing a video of his speech in a Facebook post, Biren Singh wrote, "We should not encourage leaving our elders at old age homes unless it is absolutely necessary for elders with no relatives. My remark at the observation of International day of older persons,2022."
In his speech, Health Minister Dr. Sapam Ranjan said that elderly people are the ones who imbibe knowledge of our cultures and tradition to the younger generation since time immemorial. This has helped preserve our culture, he said.
On the other hand, Dingo said the Social Welfare department is opening a particular cell to look into the matters related to inhuman treatment of elderly persons. He appealed to the public to raise complaints to the department if anyone comes across any such act of misbehavior or ill-treatment of elderly persons.