Seniors' helpline mitigates anxiety and isolation, lends ear to remarriage hope

Time of India

a day ago

Panaji:
The National Senior Citizen Helpline set up recently in Goa has been receiving a varied mix of calls from lonely, scared, financially challenged, and technology-unsavvy seniors.
Many seniors living alone seek reassurance and someone to talk to when they call the helpline, which provides them with information, legal advice, and practical solutions to problems.
But more importantly, the helpline has the capacity to listen with empathy and offer emotional support.
'We find many senior citizens living alone after their spouse's death, with their children abroad. Some were in late marriages and have no children,' the project manager of the National Senior Citizen Helpline, Goa, Jyoti Kambli told
TOI
.
She added, 'They call seeking advice but also turn to us when they have anxiety attacks and have no one else to turn to.'
There's also the occasional surprise call that fills the heart with hope. A 72-year-old man who lost his wife, looking to remarry, asked the helpline to share his number. 'He said his children gave him permission to remarry and that he is looking for a 65-year-old woman who is healthy,' Kambli said.
She added, 'He said he wants to marry legally and, in the event of his death, will leave her a share of his property as he wants her to live well.'
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As for worrying cases, a senior citizen living all by himself called the helpline recently, saying his neighbours were abusing him and creating problems. 'Since he is financially well off, we advised him to set up CCTV cameras for his safety. We told him this would help him gather proof and help him in the future too,' Kambli said.
In another ongoing case, the helpline is extending help to a senior citizen who became bedridden and requested that his sister be authorised to collect his pension on his behalf.
Some seniors experiencing anxiety are regular callers. If a red alert is announced, they call fearing a flood-like situation in their areas and ask whether it is safe to go to the market.
After the Ahmedabad plane crash, a senior staying near Mopa called asking whether he would be safe where he lived.
Kambli, with the assistance of the helpline's system engineer Rajendra Gaonkar, tactfully and compassionately handles the varied requests and questions from the seniors.
In another case, a 75-year-old man called the helpline saying that a cooperative bank insisted that he buy shares worth Rs 10,000 to open a Rs 3 lakh fixed deposit. 'I told him that as stipulated by RBI guidelines, the bank cannot force him to buy shares and told him to ask the bank to give it to him in writing,' Kambli said.
She added, 'After two days, he called up saying that the bank backtracked once he asked for the demand in writing and allowed him to open his fixed deposit without any hassles.'
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