PIB Summary- 30th September, 2023 | Current Affairs & Hindu Analysis: Daily, Weekly & Monthly - UPSC PDF Download

Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana

Context
In a significant initiative to empower senior citizens and persons with disabilities across India, the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India, organized ‘Samajik Adhikarita Shivirs’ camps at 72 locations simultaneously. These camps aim to distribute various types of aid and assistive devices to over 12000 persons with disabilities and senior citizens under the Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana.

About Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana (RVY)

• The RVY was launched in 2017 at Nellore, Andhra Pradesh. 
• Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana (RVY) is a scheme for providing Physical Aids and Assisted-living Devices for Senior citizens belonging to BPL category.
• This is a Central Sector Scheme, fully funded by the Central Government.
• The expenditure for implementation of the scheme will be met from the “Senior Citizens’ Welfare Fund”.
• The Scheme will be implemented through the sole implementing agency – Artificial Limbs Manufacturing Corporation (ALIMCO), a PSU under the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.
• Under the scheme, the physical aids will be provided only to the senior citizens of the nation.
• This implies those who are aged above 60 years will get free assisted living aids and physical devices which are required for their sustainability.
• Also the government has selected the list of cities where the scheme will be implemented.
• Beneficiaries in each district will be identified by the State Governments/UT Administrations through a Committee chaired by the Deputy Commissioner/District Collector.
• As far as possible, 30% of the beneficiaries in each district shall be women.

The following aids & assisted devices are provided under the scheme:
Generic Items:

1. Walking sticks 
2. Elbow crutches 
3. Walkers/Crutches,
4. Tripods/Quadpods 
5. Hearing Aids 
6. Artificial Dentures, and 
7. Spectacles.

Special Items:

1. Wheelchairs, 
2. Wheel Chairs with Commode, 
3. Chair/Stool with Commode, 
4. Silicon Foam Cushion, 
5. Knee Brace, 
6. Spinal Support,
7. Cervical Collar,
8. Lumbosacral Belt (LS), 
9. Walker/Roalator with Brakes, 
10. Walking Stick with Seat, 
11. Foot Care Kit:-
    (i) Flexi Gel Socks,
    (ii) Socks Cusion Sandal,
    (iii) Silicon Insole (Complete Foot/Ankle) and
    (iv) Insole with Pressure Point Relief.

Significance of RVY Scheme

• According to Census 2011, there are 10.38 crores of senior citizens.
• And of these, more than 70% of them live in rural areas.
• Therefore, it is essential to take special care towards them through these camps organized under Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana.

Birth Anniversay Of Bhagat Singh

Context
The Prime Minister has bowed to Shaheed Bhagat Singh on his birth anniversary.

Who is Bhagat Singh?

• In 1907, Bhagat Singh was born into a Sikh family in Lyallpur District, Pakistan.
• Singh was lured to the Indian independence movement from a young age since his family members were participating in the struggle for independence.
• He disobeyed the British government as a child by destroying textbooks that it advised.
• He first backed Mahatma Gandhi’s Non-Cooperation Movement.
• Bhagat Singh converted to revolutionary nationalism after Gandhi withdrew the campaign in the aftermath of the Chauri Chaura tragedy.
• The Jallianwala Bagh massacre (1919) and the violence against unarmed Akali protestors at Nankana Sahib had a profound impact on him (1921).
• Inspired by leftist writings he read widely, Singh was an atheist and against capitalism.

Revolutionary activities

• In Kanpur in 1924, he joined the Hindustan Republican Association, which had been founded a year before by Sachindranath Sanyal.
• Bhagat Singh returned to Lahore in 1925, and within a year, he and his colleagues founded the Naujawan Bharat Sabha, a militant youth organisation.
• Along with Sukhdev, Chandrashekhar Azad, and others, he was a member of the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA) in 1928.
• Bhagat Singh and Sukhdev also founded the Lahore Students Union to encourage students to engage in open, lawful work.
• He was involved in revolutionary actions such as the
  • Lahore Conspiracy case and
  • the 1929 Central Assembly Bombing case.
• Along with Rajguru, Sukhdev, and others, Bhagat Singh was arrested and charged in the Saunders murder case.
• The three was sentenced to be hanged on March 24, 1931, however the sentence was carried out at the Lahore Jail a day early.
• In honour of Bhagat Singh, Rajguru, and Sukhdev, the 23rd of March is honoured as ‘Martyrs’ Day,’ or ‘Shaheed Diwas,’ or ‘Sarvodaya Day.’

Political ideology:
His azaadi independence did not stop with the expulsion of the British; he also demanded azaadi freedom from poverty, untouchability, communal warfare, and all forms of discrimination and exploitation.