Rajasthan government is planning to start a new job oriented training course on care giving – much needed for taking care of the needs of chronically ill, elderly and persons with disabilities at Composite Regional Centre (CRC), Jamdoli.
Kuldeep Ranka, additional chief secretary of social justice and empowerment department told The BuckStopper that there is a dire need for creating special cadre of care givers who can provide specialised services to those who are elderly or suffering from mental or physical disabilities.
“With increased globalisation and modernisation, there has been increase issues related to old age problems, disaster related injuries and mental stress disorders. But there is paucity of trained people who can deal with it. We are planning groom care givers, train them to take care of their physical, mental and emotional requirements,” he said.
A training course in Care Giving is a new concept designed by Rehabilitation Council of India (RCI) to cater to the needs of elderly people who prefer to live their lives independently. It also imparts training in handling spastic children, mentally and physically challenged people.
“The course covers modules right from code of conduct to importance of balanced diet, from first aid training to handling emergency health situation. The candidate is trained to take care of all the possible special needs of this section of society,” Ranka said.
Future of Care Giving Industry
The care giving industry is growing at a pace of 30% per annum. In this fast ticking age, family members get little time to take care of specially challenged people and elderly at home. In such situation, care givers are the ones who can rise upto the occasion. Care Givers will get their pie from the India's growing Silver Economy, which is the economic sector that serves the needs of people aged 50 and older, including the products and services they buy and the economic activity that results from their spending.
“Many people go abroad for greener pasture leaving behind their old parents. Similarly, due to accidents and other disasters people get physically handicapped. In such situation, they need special care and they are not afraid of spending money for that. This opens up immense opportunity for trained care giver,” said Dr. Varun Kaul, retired from SMS medical college.
He said that there is big demand of care givers in old age homes, senior citizen apartments and schools of specially gifted children.
“The industry is gradually getting organised with trained main power and agencies opening up. Currently it is around Rs 2,000 crore industry in India growing at a pace of 30%,” Kaul said.
Prakash Bhandari is a veteran journalist with over 50 years of experience. He has worked with The Times of India for 30 years and contributed to leading publications as well as international news agency AFP.
