BMC charts plans for senior citizen daycare centre in Goregaon

“Furthermore, meditation, yoga sessions alongside health care sessions will also be conducted for the well being of the senior citizens. A caretaker will be present at the facility and we will also provide newspapers, books, TVs which can be availed by the senior citizens,” said the official, adding that the decision pertaining to other provisions such as food is yet to be ascertained.

Having already floated an Expression of Interest (EoI), the civic body is currently on the lookout for an organisation who will be anointed with the responsibility of running the centre.

The daycare centre for senior citizens will be situated on the ground floor of the 16-storey hostel for working women in Goregaon. Inaugurated on International Women’s Day, earlier this year, the women’s hostel can accommodate nearly 180 women, and comprises facilities such as a dormitory, recreational spaces, dining hall, canteen etc.

Speaking to The Indian Express, a civic official said, “While the daycare centre for senior citizens will be situated on the ground floor of the hostel, it will have a separate entrance gate. The women’s hostel is already operational and we are eyeing to make the senior citizen’s Virangula kendra operational in the next two months.”

Meanwhile, on the question of the daycare centre for children, which is also slated to be introduced within the hostel, the official maintained, “The policy making is under progress and the children’s facility may become operational after the approvals are procured.”

In its fiscal budget for 2024 – 25, the BMC had announced the establishment of seven Virangula Kendras – with one facility located in the city’s seven zones each – as a part of its new policy aiming at better quality of life for senior citizens. While an allocation of Rs. 19 crore was made for the working women’s hostel, Rs. 7 crore has been allocated for the ‘daycare centre’ scheme in this year’s financial budget.