Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana- A Needful Mainstay for the Senior Citizens

The Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana has been structured to focus on restoring normalcy in the lives of elderly people who are suffering due to physical illness. According to the Population Census 2011, there are nearly 104 million old-aged people (senior citizens) in India. Additionally, more than 70% of the senior citizens live in the remote and rural areas of the country. This is the biggest reason that makes elderly people suffer from physical disabilities in their old age.

Intending to grant support to the senior citizens by providing them with Assisted-living Devices, this Yojana has been formulated.

Introduction of Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana

Introduced by the Central government Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana is a scheme initiated to benefit the senior citizens who fall in the Below Poverty Line (BPL) category. This yojana is funded by the Central Government and aims to focus on granting Assisted-living Devices and Physical Aids to the country’s senior citizens. This scheme manages to provide the senior citizens with assisted-living devices with the help of funds collected from the Senior Citizens’ Welfare Fund.

The Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana will be implemented by the Artificial Limbs Manufacturing Corporation (ALIMCO), a Public Sector Undertaking covered under the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.

This yojana strictly targets to cater the support and assistance to the senior citizens (people above the age of 60 years) of the country and is introduced to grant the essential physical devices to the senior citizens as they are important to make their survival easy.

In addition to this, the central government has also made a list of selected cities under the Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana. In these selected cities, this scheme will be implemented. The only criteria the senior citizens need to satisfy to avail themselves of the benefits offered in this scheme is to have a valid BPL card, and it should be issued by the authorized department.

The Objective of the Scheme

The objective of this scheme is to cater support to the senior citizens and also aid them by making their survival hassle-free. 

This scheme has been brought into existence to address the following:- 

• Provide Assisted-living Devices and Physical Aids to senior citizens belonging to the BPL category. 
• The main motive of this scheme is to bring back the sanity in life and the functioning of their body. 
• This yojana also revolves around granting high-quality assistive devices to senior citizens.

The Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana will cover the senior citizens who are suffering from any of the following:-

 

Purpose of Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana

• This scheme has been initiated to benefit the senior citizens with physical disabilities or any other suffering as mentioned in the above-given paragraph.
• To attain the Physical Aids and Assisted-living Devices that are offered under this scheme, the senior citizens falling under the BPL category are required to acquire a certificate from any Government Medical Officer.
• Additionally, the agencies that will be responsible for implementing this yojana are required to follow the guidelines stated in the eligibility criteria of this scheme.
• Senior citizens who fall under the below poverty line category are eligible to be benefitted under the Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana.

Assisted-Living Devices and Physical Aids

Under this scheme, the senior cities will be provided with the following devices:-

• Walking sticks
• Tripods / Quad pods
• Wheelchair
• Hearing Aids
• Elbow crutches
• Spectacles
• Walkers / Crutches
• Artificial Dentures

The Finance for the Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana

• This yojana is completely funded by the Central Government from the Senior Citizens Welfare Fund.
• The financial support extended by the central government comprises the distribution (free of cost) of the “Physical Aids and Assisted-Living Devices” to the beneficiaries of this scheme.
• In addition to this, the physical assistance devices will be granted to the senior citizens suffering from physical disability/disabilities, as stated above.
• The devices that will be provided to elderly people cost nearly ₹7,000 per beneficiary.
• Also, free maintenance for one year will be given to all the assisted devices and physical aids that will be provided to the old people. 
• This free maintenance will be covered by the respective implementing agency.

Additional Information

Under the Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana, the physical aids that will be granted to the senior citizens will be given concerning the existing disability in the body of the eligible person.

Let us now go through the economic limit of the devices that will be granted under the Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana.

Type of Assistive Device	The Economic Limit
For every single set of Walkers, Crutches, Walking Sticks, or Elbow crutches	The monetary limit will be based on the information shared by the Artificial Limbs Manufacturing Corporation Of India (ALIMCO)
For each wheelchair
For each set of Artificial Dentures
For Hearing aids
For each pair of spectacles

Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana: Eligibility Criteria

Intending to avail of the benefits offered under this scheme, the senior citizens are required to provide the following:-

• The beneficiary should be either 60 years or above the age of 60 years.
• The proof of age (Aadhaar card or birth certificate).
• A BPL Card or BPL Certificate issued by the governing authority.

Selection of the Beneficiaries

• The selection of beneficiaries under this yojana will be made in each district of India.
• This selection will be made by the Union Territories Administrations or the State Governments via a committee lead by the Deputy Commissioner.
• Additionally, 30% of the beneficiaries will be women of each district.
• Also, to verify the eligibility of the senior citizens applying under the Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana, the District Level Committee will be collecting the data of the BPL cardholders along with the elderly people who receive the Old Age Pension under any government scheme.

Devices Distribution under the Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana

• Assisted-living Devices and Physical Aids will be distributed to the eligible beneficiaries for free of cost.
• Camps will be arranged to distribute these devices will be amongst the senior citizens of every district.
• The assistive devices will be granted with regards to every disability. 

Districts Covered under this Scheme

Nearly all the cities of the Union Territories and states in India are being covered under the Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana.

Here is a list that carries a few of the states and districts which are covered under this scheme:-

S. No.	State / Union Territory	District
1.	Andhra Pradesh	Nellore and Vishakhapatnam
2.	Haryana	Karnal and Ambala
3.	Bihar	Buxar and West Champaran
4.	Andaman and Nicobar Islands	South Andaman, Middle & North Andaman
5.	Arunachal Pradesh	West Kameng and Pasinghat
6.	Goa	South Goa and North Goa
7.	Assam	Sonipur and Kamrup

Registration Process for the Yojana

Senior citizens who meet the eligibility criteria to avail of the benefits of this scheme, are required to fill an online application using the official website- https://www.alimco.in/index.aspx

Given below is the image of the home page of the official website-

How to Apply for Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana?

1- Visit the official website.

2- Once, you reach the homepage, click on the “Vayoshri Registration”.

3- The “Application form” will display on your screen.

4- Now, fill in all the required details such as- full name, date of birth, BPL certificate details, mobile number, etc.

5- Enter the captcha code given and enter the “Submit” option.

6- Your application process is complete.

Required Documents to Apply for the Scheme

Below mentioned is a list of all the documents required to apply for the Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana-

• Aadhaar card / Voter ID card/ Passport/ Driving license.
• BPL Status Proof (BPL certificate issued by the District Authority/ BPL ration card) or Proof of pension received under the National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP).
• A certificate issued from the Medical Officer certifying the physical disability of the beneficiary.

To Summarize

Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana is a scheme initiated by the Central government. This yojana has been launched to provide Physical Aids and Assisted-living Devices to the senior citizens of the country. This scheme is a well-thought stride taken by the central government as it will secure the old age of the elderly people. Not only will Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana distribute assistive devices to the senior citizens, but it will also result in making their declining years hassle-free and easy. Targeting to grant physical aids to the senior citizens in each district of India, this yojana will also cover free maintenance of all the devices for one year.

Aatmnirbhar Sena, on the other hand, is an organization formed of people who work for the welfare of the country. We are a unit working for the rights of the children, youth, men, women, and senior citizens of the nation. We live with the belief that every individual is equal and should have equal access to live life in his/her own way. Keeping moral values in mind, Aatmnirbhar Sena always arranges camps for elderly people and ensures to maintain the light of happiness in their lives.