Technology classes to make senior citizens smarter HelpAge India

Visakhapatnam: Navigating the web and making online transactions are no longer a daunting exercise for senior citizens as they will be taught technology lessons across Andhra Pradesh and Telangana from next month.

The digital literacy project of HelpAge India aims at reaching out to the elderly, boost their self-confidence, push their loneliness away and make them smart. With the initiative receiving an encouraging response from the target group in capital cities across the country, the non-profit organisation intends to intensify its drive, covering all the districts of Telugu-speaking States from July.

"Talks are on to partner with Google to cater to the technology training for the elderly. So far, the team has covered 30 sessions in Hyderabad and 25-30 classes in various capital cities Pan-India," says Lankapalli Mrinal, liaison manager of HelpAge India, Visakhapatnam.

Connecting with Senior Citizens Associations' network, a group of volunteers will impart digital classes to 25-30 persons per batch. "Each session would last for about three-four hours. The agenda is to instill confidence in senior citizens to use smartphones and other digital devices as an effective tool to avail online services suitable to them and connect with family and friends through social media platforms," adds Mrinal.

In the digital era, when most services can be accessed at the click of a mouse, HelpAge India plans to nudge senior citizens to make digital transactions, use online banking facility, book cabs, order food online, download Apps and access applications that make their life easy.

The classes will be given for two days so that in case of any clarifications, the participants can get them cleared in the next session. Once they become tech-savvy, they can train others and help a network of senior citizens engage in active and healthy ageing.