Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana 2021 for Senior Citizens

Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana 2021 for Senior Citizens

Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana (RVY) is a scheme for providing Physical Aids and Assisted-living Devices for Senior citizens belonging to BPL category. Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana 2021 is a central sector scheme, fully funded by the central government. The expenditure for implementation of the scheme will be met from the “Senior Citizens Welfare Fund”.

The RVY scheme will be implemented through the sole implementing agency – Artificial Limbs Manufacturing Corporation (ALIMCO), a PSU under the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. Under the scheme, the physical aids will be provided only to the senior citizens of the nation. This implies those who are aged above 60 years will get free assisted living aids and physical devices which are required for their sustainability. Also the govt. has selected the list of cities where the scheme will be implemented.

The main criteria for the senior citizens to get full benefits of Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana (RVY) scheme is that they must belong to BPL family and should hold valid BPL card issued by the concerned authority.

How to Apply Online for Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana 2021

The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has introduced a scheme for providing physical aids and Assisted Living Devices for Senior Citizens belonging to BPL category named “Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana (RVY)” on 1 April, 2017. The RVY scheme has been launched with the objective of providing senior citizens, belonging to BPL category and suffering from age related disabilities/ infirmities, with such physical aids and assisted living devices which can restore near normalcy in their bodily functions. The official website for RVY Scheme is https://alimco.in/

Eligibility Criteria for Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana

Senior Citizens, belonging to BPL category and suffering from any of the age related disability/infirmity viz. Low vision, Hearing impairment, Loss of teeth and Locomotor disability will be provided with such assisted-living devices which can restore near normalcy in their bodily functions, overcoming the disability/infirmity manifested. The Scheme is expected to benefit all Senior Citizens across the country.

• Devices Supported under Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana
• Walking sticks
• Elbow crutches
• Walkers/Crutches
• Tripods/Quadpods
• Hearing Aids
• Wheelchair
• Artificial Dentures
• Spectacles

All of these assisted living devices are provided free of cost to the beneficiary senior citizens. The devices to be distributed under the scheme would be of high quality and conform to the standards laid down by the BIS (Bureau of Indian Standards).

Salient Features of Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana

• Free of cost distribution of the devices, commensurate with the extent of disability/infirmity that is manifested among the eligible senior citizens.

• In case of multiple disabilities/infirmities manifested in the same person, the assistive devices will be given in respect of each disability/impairment.

• Artificial Limbs Manufacturing Corporation (ALIMCO) will undertake one year free maintenance of the aids & assisted living devices.

• Beneficiaries in each district will be identified by the State Governments/UT Administrations through a Committee chaired by the Deputy Commissioner/District Collector.

• As far as possible, 30% of the beneficiaries in each district shall be women.

• The State Government/UT Administration/District Level Committee can also utilize the data of BPL beneficiaries receiving Old Age Pension under the NSAP or any other Scheme of the State/UT for identification of senior citizens belonging to BPL category.

• The devices will be distributed in Camp mode.

Implementation of Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana

The Scheme is being implemented through the “Artificial Limbs Manufacturing Corporation (ALIMCO)”, a Public Sector Undertaking under the Ministry of SJ&E, as the sole Implementing Agency. The devices are distributed in the camp mode. The beneficiaries are identified through Assessment Camps organised in collaboration with the respective State Government/District Administration and the devices are distributed in Distribution Camps organised in the selected districts. For the senior citizens aged 80 years or more, the devices are provided at their doorsteps.

Districts Covered under Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana

At present, a total of 325 Districts have been selected for the implementation of Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana. The assessment camps to identify the beneficiaries have been completed in 135 districts of which (as on 25.01.2019), 77 distribution camps have been organised benefitting 70939 senior citizens belonging to BPL Category.

State-wise/Year-Wise Total Number of Senior Citizens Benefited under Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana (as on 25/01/2019) can be checked using the link – PIB Release

Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana Impact

The main impact of the Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana would be on the lives of older people from economically backward classes. Now such senior citizens would be able to live an active life and create an aged-friendly society. RVY scheme is aimed at providing them life assisting devices so that they can maintain near normalcy in morbidity. Old age disabilities like low vision, hearing impairment, loss of teeth and locomotor disability would be addressed through the Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana.

The central government would be distributing free assistive devices to beneficiaries in each camp. For distributing the devices, the government would organize camps in two districts of each state for the whole year.

As per the SECC-2011 data, there are about 10.38 crore senior citizens in the country out of which 5.2% (About 54 Lakh) of them suffer from some sort of old age-related disability. The number of senior citizens is expected to reach 173 million (17.3 Crore) by the year 2026 and so Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana is of great importance.

• Artificial Limbs Manufacturing Corporation (ALIMCO) – https://www.alimco.in/
• Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment – http://socialjustice.nic.in/