Puja Parikrama for the elderlies

October 19, 2012: Today morning I went to the Bhawanipur Thana for Pronam’s `Puja Parikrama’ event for the senior citizens. The event was for Pronam members of Kolkata, all senior citizens, for whom the Kolkata Police had made special arrangements to ensure that the elderlies could visit different pujas across the city without any hassles under the special care and guidance of Kolkata Police personnel.

Four AC buses were flagged off from Bhawanipur in South Kolkata by Subrata Bakshi, MLA, and Commissioner of Police, Ranjit K Pachnanda and Debashish Roy, Additional CP – III, and other police officials and Pronam members. Another set of buses with senior citizens were flagged off from North Kolkata. In all nearly 400 senior citizens were there for a round trip of major puja pandals across Kolkata.

Often the senior citizens stay alone and are physically incapacitated to reach out for support in times of need. The Pronam project has been started to address such security needs of the elderly (above 60 years) in Kolkata. Pronam also organizes various cultural events for the elderly throughout the year. Currently, Pronam has a membership base of over 6000 senior citizens.

Two years ago Pronam initiated a project to set up a dedicated 24-hour helpline hub near Ballygunge Police Station for the senior citizens. The hub is now manned by specially trained Kolkata Police staff and executives appointed by The Bengal for receiving emergency calls from senior citizens and take follow up action according to the nature of the problem. This has instilled confidence and hope among the elderly.
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