The Kozhikode Corporation is in the process of preparing an action plan to convert the city into an elderly-friendly place. Welfare Standing Committee chairman P. Divakaran said the action plan would be put into discussion at the forthcoming special council meeting and would be implemented soon after.
The plan is loosely based on a study conducted by a team from the National Institute of Technology-Calicut (NITC) after surveys for the project to make the city elderly-friendly. The study report suggests constructing elderly-friendly / disabled-friendly footpaths, bus stops, and toilets in public places. Kind store, a free medicine and other supplies store to help the elderly community, has also been proposed.
A team from the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the NITC presented the idea of elderly-friendly / disabled-friendly furniture, including a patient transfer assistive device, an adjustable bed for physically challenged people, and disabled-friendly kitchen models for the Corporation’s consideration.
Besides, the team also suggested the importance of transforming homes into elderly-friendly ones and the need to install voice-assisted smart devices and fall detection lights to ensure the safety of senior citizens.
Mr. Divakaran said the study was being fine-tuned, and that the finalised proposal would be presented to the Corporation soon.
Meanwhile, the Corporation has sought the technical support of the NITC to set up a vocational unit at Pakalveedu (day care home for the elderly) at Kunduparamba. A 12-member team from the NITC had recently visited the place when the members of Pakalveedu expressed desire to engage in creative activities. “We have zeroed in on an electronic toy manufacturing unit there for which the NITC is developing the technology. The project will be launched in January,” Mr. Divakaran said.