Vayoshrestha Samman, 2011

The Union Minister of Social Justice & Empowerment  Mukul Wasnik has announced that this year the Ministry has identified “Health care for Senior Citizens “as the theme for International Day of Older person. Speaking at the function for the presentation of Vayoshrestha Samman ,2011 here today he called upon the people to help those elderly who are less fortunate and do not have family or adequate resources . He said that International Day of Older Persons provides us an opportunity to acknowledge the contribution of senior citizens to society and to sensitize the public at large about their problems and needs and to make our society more elderly friendly. The Minister said Vayoshreshtha Samman is an occasion to draw attention to the fact that the elderly have a major role to play in nation building. He said The Samman is just a humble recognition of their relentless strivings and inspiring achievements.

The Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare Shri Gulam Nabi Azad who was the chief guest on the occasion spoke about the health care issues for senior citizens and reaffirmed Government’s commitment to take care of older people so that they can live a healthy dignified and protective life. Referring to the ambitious programme of m/o Health& Family Welfare namely national programme for elderly which is the pilot programme is being run in 21 selected states focusing on backward districts. He called upon three ministries namely m/o Panchayati Raj, m/o Health& Family Welfare and m/o Social Justice& Empowerment to work in a coordinated manner at national level to implement ambitious pilot programme. Earlier he inaugurated OPD block in AIIMS, New Delhi especially for elderly people.

On this occasion, Shri Azad conferred -

1. Vayoshrestha Samman,2011 for Institution of Service to kinnera Welfare Society, Mehdipatnam, Hydrabad;

2. Vayoshrestha Samman,2011 for best panchayat to Prashant Nagar Gram Panchayat, Medak, Andhra Pradesh;

3. Vayoshrestha Samman,2011 for Lifetime Achievement to Dr. Vinod Kumar, New Delhi;

4. Vayoshrestha Samman,2011 for Creative Art to Sh. C.S.N. Patnaik, Vishakhapatnam;

5. Vayoshrestha Samman, 2011 for Sports Person to Dr. (Wing Commander) Ashish Roy, New Delhi;

6. Vayoshrestha Samman ,2011 for Economic Leadership to Sh. Om Prakash Gupta, New Delhi;

Those who were present during the occasion included Shri K.M. Acharya, Secretary, Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment, Special Secretary Smt. Sangita Gairola, Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment and Shri T.R Meena, Joint Secretary Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment.