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The Indian NGO helping elderly residents feel less lonely, an hour at a time
- The Nirogi Bharat Foundation in northern India matches senior citizens with volunteers who spend time with them and help run errands
- Retirees say the visits help keep loneliness at bay, while volunteers say they are gratified by the impact their service has made
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Why you can trust SCMP
It was a scolding from an elderly client that made Rohit Mamgain realise his not-for-profit group in Dehradun, north India, had neglected them as a group.
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“Please spare a thought for us too,” the man, a 75-year-old widowed former executive, had said.
Mamgain, 31, reflected on the rebuke. There were some 138 million people aged over 60 living alone in India, according to 2021 government statistics, many whose children had moved away for work.
He realised he had to do something to help. His solution was a “time bank”, where volunteers visit seniors to help them run errands like paying bills, picking up medication or taking them to the hospital for check-ups. The hours spent are treated as “currency” which is deposited into a volunteer’s account at the time bank. In return, these hours can be redeemed in kind as the volunteers grow older and seek help from others.
He hung up … because he couldn’t speak. He was choking with gratitude at someone asking after him
Mamgain, who works as a medical researcher for a large US multinational that he declined to name, was inspired by examples of similar time banks in Switzerland and Scandinavia, where the system is more formal and a part of the state. The number of hours that volunteers spend with the elderly is deposited into their social security account.
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