WASHINGTON, Oct 19: American Friends of HelpAge India has received a grant of USD 1.3 million from MetLife Foundation to improve the conditions of senior citizens in Bihar, West Bengal, and Puducherry.
This grant will support ‘Project Saksham’ by AFHI’s partner organisation, HelpAge India which has been serving the needs of India’s disadvantaged elders for over 44 years.
“This project will enable HelpAge India to provide practical and comprehensive digital and financial literacy training to more than 16,000 seniors so that they can gain access to government benefit programmes and use digital financial services in a secure and confident manner,” a media release said.
HelpAge India will also provide comprehensive training and financial support to start or grow their economic activities as well as access to high quality primary health care services – a holistic model to ensure elder empowerment and dignity, it said.
This will help tackle some key challenges facing elders in rural India in a holistic manner, said Pramod Bhasin, president, American Friends of HelpAge India.
“This grant hugely compliments our efforts to galvanize greater support for India’s 138 million elders, 90 per cent of whom are outside of the formal/organised sector and are often overlooked within the broader developmental narrative,” he said in a statement.
“This is a unique project since it takes a 360-degree view of the various vulnerabilities facing rural elders in particularly low resource settings. These issues do not operate in a vacuum and need to be tackled in an inter-linked manner,” said Rohit Prasad, CEO, HelpAge India.
According to Ashish Kumar Srivastava, MD and CEO at PNB MetLife, the project will help bring crucial services to the disadvantaged elders in rural India, who are amongst some of the most neglected segments of the populace.
“This innovative, practical and comprehensive approach combines financial and digital literacy with access to key Government benefit programmes as well as livelihood and healthcare support to provide elders in rural India with avenues for empowerment as they look to rebuild their lives after the pandemic,” he said. (PTI)
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