Meant for 100, can house only 33

KOCHI: As per the website of the Social Welfare Department, the Government Old Age Home at Thevara, which is the only government-run old age home in the city, has a sanctioned strength of 100 persons. But, take a visit to the old age home and one will find that it can accommodate only a maximum of 33 persons, thanks to a more than a decade long delay in the construction of accommodation facilities.The decision to build old age homes with a strength of 100 persons, in every district of Kerala, was taken way back in 1995. By 1997, Ernakulam district got its old age home. However, it had a capacity of only 33 persons against the proposed 100,  owing to the non-availability of a building. The old age home already had about an acre land under its authority but the funds to build a new building were unavailable.Years passed by and after an interval of about a decade, in 2006, the Social Welfare Department took up the issue and sanctioned `84 lakh for the construction of a new building. But the story took a new twist when under the People Planning Campaign, the institution was transferred to the Kochi Corporation. Though funds were transferred to the Corporation, it led to further delays and after several bureaucratic procedures and several tendering, in 2009 the outer structure of the building was completed. But after this, the NGO Habitat, which had taken up the construction stalled the work demanding a revised budget for the building.After further delays, the District Planning Council approved Rs 42 lakh. Though a relief, this was no end to the delays. Owing to extended queries and bureaucratic procedures the file was pushed through every department including the secretariat, the finance department, the department of local self governance, the office of the Minister, so on and so forth. Finally in 2012, the old age home sanctioned in 1995, remains incomplete even after 16 years. Meanwhile, the number of senior citizens and destitute have increased five fold. In fact, the demand for an accommodation here is so high that on the very day a person dies at an old age home, another person takes his/her place. “There is a very high demand for accommodation. A few months back when one of our inmates died, the police brought another person on the very same day,” said the Suresh Kumar, superintendent, Government Old Age Home, Thevara.