No allocation in budget for senior citizens deplored

Vijayawada: Andhra Pradesh budget for 2018 will go down in the history for not announcing any allocations for senior citizens, said Krishna District Senior Citizens Welfare Association president Motukuri Venkateswara Rao.

Addressing the media here on Friday, Venkateswara Rao said about 12 per cent of the population were senior citizens and the state government did not discuss any allocations for the welfare of senior citizens. Many representations were submitted in the past to the government to establish a separate welfare department or a commissionerate for senior citizens, but the government ignored the plea of lakhs of senior citizens.

He said it will be injustice to merge senior citizens into ‘women and child welfare, transgender and senior citizen welfare department’. He said that welfare schemes as per maintenance and welfare of parents and senior citizens of 2007 were not implemented and 1999 national planning was also not implemented, he added.