No civilization can claim progress if it turns a blind eye to its elders the sentinels of memory the custodians of values and the living vessels of collective experience. In the relentless churn of our modern epoch as nuclear families fragment and urban tempo erodes once sacred bonds the Indian village elder and metropolitan grandparent alike risk being consigned to the margins of an amnesiac society. Chhattisgarh to its enduring credit has mounted a counter narrative one that exalts senior citizens as the pillars both of heritage and hope.
Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai’s assertion Worship of one’s parents is worship of the divine is more than an aphoristic flourish it is the founding philosophy of a welfare architecture that transcends tokenism. Affirming this promise the state has rolled out a constellation of responsive interventions modern elder homes under the PPP model across its cities assistive device centres for the frail and differently abled and a tapestry of cultural spiritual centres such as Siyan Gudi where elders recover their sense of belonging dignity and spiritual anchor.
The Social Welfare Ministry under Lakshmi Rajwade has matched rhetoric with rigorous implementation. Thirty five elder homes now pulsate with life bearing witness to the policy’s tangible penetration. But perhaps the true measure of Chhattisgarh’s intent lies in its outreach to the clinically and economically vulnerable. Six districts shelter palliative care facilities where medication support and medical attention are provided not as charity but as entitlement. For every aged hand trembling with uncertainty the government’s networked helplines having dispensed solutions to more than 270000 cases serve as lifelines restoring confidence and safeguarding dignity.
Even law has become an instrument of compassion rigorous enforcement of the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act ensures that disputes over property support or security are speedily adjudicated. Financial sustenance has moved beyond numbers granting monthly pensions to more than fourteen million elders turning economic security from a privilege into a right.
The health paradigm too has shifted under Ayushman Bharat and the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh Health Scheme over 800000 senior citizens have received free treatment while the distribution of wheelchairs hearing aids and visual aids has opened new horizons of autonomy. The government’s pilgrimage support ensures that not only survival but flourishing spiritual and emotional are within reach as elders rediscover faith along sacred corridors.
The annual celebration of International Day of Older Persons instantly translated into ground level events reminds society that honouring elders is not a ceremonial accessory but a civic imperative Chief Minister Sai and Minister Rajwade’s stewardship demonstrates with unmistakable clarity that governance at its most humane must make the sunset years luminous not lonely.
Chhattisgarh’s stewardship is not merely a testament to sensitive administration. It is an eloquent rejoinder to the contemporary malaise of neglect and indifference a model illustrating how the fusion of ancient reverence and modern policy empathy and execution can catalyse true lasting change in the lives of those who shaped our past and by their example and wisdom illuminate our future. Let the rest of the nation take heed the measure of a state’s soul is found in the care it extends to its oldest hearts.
