Haryana Govt Launches ‘Samarth Vridhavastha Seva Yojana’ For Senior Citizens

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar launched the ‘Samarth Vridhavastha Seva Ashram Yojana’ to provide access to essential health services and facilities for the elderly under one roof. In the first phase, the Sewa Ashrams were established at six locations including Jagadhri (Yamunanagar), Sonipat, Hisar, Bahadurgarh (Jhajjar), Sirsa, and Gurugram. This scheme will provide great support to the elderly in the state.

Through this scheme, senior citizens will be provided with a place to stay and will be assisted in their care and daily activities, Khattar said. According to an official statement on Thursday, any senior citizen wishing to enter the ashram will need to submit an application. They must also be permanent residents of Haryana and have a Parivar Pehchan Patra (family ID). He said that under the Prahari scheme, a survey of the elderly people in the state was conducted, in which it was revealed that there are 5,200 elderly people above 75 years of age in the state, who want the services of this type of ashram. Therefore, these senior citizens will be given first priority in these ashrams, he said. Samarth Vridhavastha Seva Ashram Yojana prioritizes the well-being of sick or physically challenged citizens by offering comprehensive medical care and nursing assistance within the ashrams. Besides this, entertainment, social, and group activities will be organized to promote mental health. NGOs may also apply for the operation of these ashrams, the statement said.

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In another initiative, Khattar on Thursday inaugurated the Mukhyamantri Matritva Sahayata Yojana Portal. The initiative is aimed at providing crucial support to expectant and lactating mothers across Haryana. Through this portal, mothers of children born on or after March 8, 2022, will be eligible to apply. The scheme, initially announced in the budget for 2022-23 and subsequently notified on March 16, 2023, offers a one-time maternity benefit of Rs 5,000 to eligible mothers. The chief minister said that women including those belonging to Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe, partially or fully disabled women, BPL ration cardholders, beneficiaries of Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana, e-Shram cardholders, beneficiaries of the PM-Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana, can avail the benefits of this scheme. They will need to provide their Aadhaar number to avail the benefits of the scheme. The state government has allocated a budget of Rs 25 crore for this scheme. Meanwhile, Khattar also launched a portal for 'Haryana Urban Built Plan Reform Policy-2023', which aims to permit and regulate the conversion of residential lands into commercial usage.

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Now on this portal, applicants will be able to convert residential plots falling under the main areas of municipal limits into commercial use by paying some fees. Khattar said that various types of complaints and demands had come from the people under the 'Jan Samwad' programs organized in the state and also during the Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra. The main demand was that in some cases residential plots were allotted about 50 years ago, but with the passage of time people started using them for commercial purposes or doing some small-scale trade. To resolve the demands and complaints of all such people, the government had earlier launched the Haryana Urban Built Plan-Improvement Policy.