NEW DELHI: There may not be any apparent connection between the NREGA and the NRIs. But the Kerala Government, faced with the issues of lonely parents of NRI population in the state, wants to link both and has requested the Union Government to bring elderly care too within the ambit of the job guarantee scheme.The state’s unique case was presented on Monday by Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and Rural Development Minister K C Joseph who were here to meet Union HRD Minister Jairam Ramesh.According to the Kerala Government’s demand list, both elderly care and home nursing too must come within the ambit of the NREGA taking into consideration the state’s growing issues with the lonely elderly population. The percentage of aged people in Kerala is the highest in the country and the estimates indicate that by 2020 it is expected to go up to 21 per cent of the total population. And with the increasing cases of migration, the number of lonely senior citizens is also increasing. The state government wants to use the available work force to cater to this segment of the population too.“Geriatric care and palliative are two of our demands which have been submitted to the government to be included in the ambit of NREGA. The Government is quite serious about the issues of elderly and has brought the special case of Kerala before the attention of the Union Government,” state Rural Development Minister K C Joseph told ‘Express.’According to him, Jairam Ramesh was quite responsive to the state’s demand.
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