Not only does the Calcutta Zoroastrian Community’s Religious and Charity Fund (CZCRCF) provide assistance to members of the community by way of subsidies and grants against housing, medical, education and general welfare, it also provides some degree of comfort to senior citizens, notes Calcutta Gavashni in its April-June 2010 issue. There are many seniors with children living elsewhere in India or abroad who are willing to help their parents, but the latter continue to seek support from the trust. Since the trust’s resources are limited, such aid cannot be provided indefinitely, and the trustees caution that they will have to be more selective in the disbursement assistance in future.
One avenue that the CZCRCF trustees are exploring is the "reverse mortgage” scheme introduced by the Government of India which would enable owners of flats who are senior citizens to receive monthly payments from their bankers against mortgage of their flats. The scheme would be extremely beneficial for those who own flats whose value exceeds Rs 50 lakh but do not have much cash income. There are conditions attached, such as the heirs are required to surrender the flat to the bank on the demise of the owner. The trustees are in the process of seeking further details to enable eligible senior citizens to avail of the scheme so that pressure on the CZCRCF eases.
With reference to the caregiver scheme under which the ailing elders are helped, the CZCRCF trustees mention that even when senior citizens pay for all their medical expenses, including hospitalization, there is a cost factor involved. And this is likely to go up as more persons avail of the services. The trustees have appealed to those seniors who do not suffer from financial constraints to make voluntary donations to the trust for the services.
A welcome trend is that more and more individuals are leaving fairly substantial amounts to the CZCRCF in their wills, reflecting the satisfaction and gratitude they have felt toward the trust. Such philanthropy will go a long way in supplementing the depleting CZCRCF coffers, and the trustees are indeed grateful for the money that can be used to assist those who will require aid in the future, Gavashni reports.