Project Office Address - Helpage India Programme

AGECARE KOLKATA PROJECT
Month : June 2010
Project Office Address
Kalyan Ashram (Chetla)
4, Paramhansa Deb Road, Kolkata - 700027
Tel: 033-24488078, Helpline : 1800 345 1253
Email: Kalyan.Ashram@helpageinida.org
Issue : V
It is a proud moment in my life as I pen the foreword for this edition of our Newsletter.
When I took up the mantle of the Old Age Home two years back I was skeptical. There
was a huge responsibility on my shoulders, since this was the first directly managed Old
Age Home of HelpAge India in the eastern region.
The expectations being high, one needed to get the acts together since the very beginning.
Associated as I was with Kalyan Ashram, since its very inception, it embodies the
meaning and spirit of an ashram, as was aptly named by Mr. KSB Sanyal. The
cleanliness, calm and quiet atmosphere, stringent hygienic norms symbolizes the
character of an ashram.
The fact that the residents are contended shows in their outward disposition and their
eagerness to participate in the various activities organized and planned for them. Our
hallmark is quality and timely meals, staff co-operation and medical preparedness.
Since day one this home has received overwhelming patronage and support from society
at large. Reputed schools, corporate houses, Inner Wheel, Round Table, Rotary, Rotaract
have all sent their students/employees/members to visit our home and all have been
equivocal in their praise for the services on offer.
Having set high standards for our self as far as maintenance and services are concerned,
we have a huge responsibility of living up to it. These cosmetic benefits notwithstanding,
the mental peace and physical well-being of our residents are primary on our agenda.
We hope that this edition of the news letter provides a pleasant read.
Samir Saha
Home Supervisor

This month at Kalyan Ashram has been a
month of new beginnings. First the residents
had a new sewing teacher, then a new singing
teacher.
This month the residents of Kalyan Ashram
had a new teacher in Mrs. Silliman. A senior
citizen herself, Mrs. Silliman is teaching the
residents some new sewing techniques.
This students from Modern High School,
Kolkata visited Kalyan Ashram on
25.06.10 and interacted with the residents
HelpAge India Elder’s HelpLine
Toll Free # 1800-345-1253
Bani Choudhury is her star pupil at the home.
Singing has been a daily habit and culture of
the residents. Ms. Nanda Mitra is the new
singing teacher for the residents. More and
more noble souls like Ms. Mitra are
volunteering at the Home and forwarding their
hand of support to HelpAge India to make
lives of the residents more meaningful.
The Sunday Telegraph on 27.06.10
brought out the above article on HelpAge
India Elder’s Helpline, Kolkata. The
article has clearly acknowledged the
report brought out by HelpAge India on
15 th June’10 during the World Elders
Abuse Awareness Day at Birla Academy,
Kolkata. The article has also described
the type of services provided by the
HelpLine and also the psycho-social and
physical situations the senior citizens of
Kolkata are living in.

Mr. Krishna Ghosh
and Smt. Mandira
Ghosh first called our
help line seekeing help
in respect of a will that
they were drafting.
After detailed
conversations with
Mr. Ghosh over the telephone them regarding the
details of his will, he was requested to come to
our Chetla office for more constructive
discussions. Both came to our office on 23 rd
June 2010 when their will was discussed in
detail.
Helpage India Physiotherapy Services
At Kalyan Ashram,10.00 a.m. - 5.00 p.m.
(Wednesday and Sunday Closed)
Mr. Bhubaneshwar
Roy, Age 62 years
first came to our centre
on 13 th May 2010. He
was suffering from
right sided hemiplegia
after a CVA attack on
4 th May this year.
Before our intervention he was not able to walk
without support due to poor muscle power,
poor balance, spasticity and inco-ordinated
limb movements. He was totally dependent on
his family members for ADL (activities in
daily living).He could not even hold any object
with his right hand. He had moderate difficulty
in speech also.
Here he has been given “passive movement,
TA stretching, PNF, Balancing exercise, coordination
exercise, weight bearing exercise
and gait training.”
After one month of physiotherapy treatment
this patient has become independent
Senior Citizens Associations
This month the Program
team at HelpAge India
had two meetings with the
various Senior Citizens
Associations. One on
14.06.2010, a day before
the WEAAD programme,
for a final discussion on
the same.
Mrs. Paromita Thomas, Country Head, HR was
also present at this meeting and she had an
opportunity to interact with the members of the
participating SCA’s.
HelpAge India observed
the 5 th World Elder Abuse
Awareness Day on 15 th
June 2010 at Birla
Academy in Kolkata.
The Guest of Honour for this occasion was Mr.
Justice (Retd) Shyamal Kumar Sen, a former
Judge, of the Kolkata High Court and the former
Chief Justice of Allahabad High Court. Justice
(Retd) Sen had also been an acting Governor of
West Bengal. Other distinguished guests present
were Smt. Bhakti Ganguly, I.A.S., Special
Secretary, Social Welfare, Department of
Women and Child Development & Social
Welfare, Government of West Bengal, Dr. P.K.
Pooviah, leading Geriatrician of Kolkata and
Mrs. Susmita Ghose, National Director-North &
East, HelpAge India.
Amongst
the
participating SCA’s
were Indian Association
of Retired Persons
(IARP), Bethune
Institute of Geriatrics
Research and
Rehabilitation Center,
Salt Lake Thikana and

Centre, Salt Lake Thikana and Port Area
Senior Citizens Forum. All the SCA’s
mentioned participated actively in the said
programme. While IARP presented the
opening song, Thikana staged a play on the
subject of elder abuse and Bethune Institute
gave the concluding thank you speech.
The second SCA
meeting was held on
25.06.2010 at the
office of Bethune
Institute on Prince
Anwar Shah Road.
Representatives from
the other SCA’s were
also present for the meeting. The main agenda
for the meeting was the idea floated by IARP,
regarding suggesting changes to the Direct Tax
Code, about to be implemented by the
Government in the near future that would
benefit Senior Citizens.
It was decided at the said meeting that all the
participating SCA’s along with HelpAge India,
individually, would prepare a list of
suggestions that they wanted implemented in
the Direct Tax Code and that the said list
would be prepared by experts who were aware
of the terms of the Direct Tax Code.
It was further decided that the all the
participants would bring, the said list along
with the expert who helped prepare it, to the
next meeting.
Further, all the members present at the said
meeting were also informed that IARP had
written a letter to the Hon’ble Finance Minister
regarding standardizing the age at which a
person is considered to be a senior citizen and
had requested HelpAge India to take it forward
from their Delhi office.
Also, as per the rotation policy decided amongst
the participants, it was decided that the next
meeting would be held at Salt Lake Thikana on
30 th July 2010.
Mobile Medical Unit
Rekha Biswas is 80 years
old. A resident of
Sabjibagan in the Chetla
area of South Kolkata, she
has been coming to our
Chetla MMU site since a
month.
Her daughter-in-law who is around 55 years old
is a regular at our site and it is she who initiated
Rekha to our MMU services. We usually report
how our elderly are neglected by their family,
but here is an example where the daughter-inlaw
cares for the mother-in-law and looks after
her well-being and health.
Rekha was born in Basirhat, after her marriage
she came to Kolkata, had two sons. She lives
with one of them and his family. She worked as
an ayah for a long period, but now with age she
is no longer able to work. Since her son does a
petty job in a small private company and cannot
afford expensive treatment for rheumatoid
arthritis, high blood pressure and general
weakness, she is coming to our MMU for
treatment.
She is mostly unable to move and depends on a
walking stick and someone by her side to help
her to move around. Amidst all her ailments
both her eyes got affected with cataract and
again it is through the initiative of HelpAge
India that she got one of her eyes operated.
Extremely soft-spoken , it is not through words,
but the look in her eyes and the warmth with
which she holds our hand that you feel how
thankful she is for all the services she gets from
us.

Out of the 40 patients. screened, 9 were
found suffering from cataract. They were
operated on 29/06/10.
On 24 th June 2010, a
cataract screening
camp was conducted
at Janakalyan Sanskriti
Parishad in the
Kudghat area of South
Kolkata,
in
collaboration with
Susrut Eye Foundation
& Research Center.