All senior citizens in India should apply for senior citizens card since it is a requirement to receive certain benefits from the Government, which might be significant for them. Getting older comes with several challenges of its own, and the primary ones involve lacking the ability to handle a lot of the tasks they could when they were younger.
Who can classify as a senior citizen?
People who are older than 60 years can classify for the senior citizen card. They can later use this card as proof of their age when they are applying for an availing a lot of benefits.
How do you apply for a senior citizen card?
People can apply for the senior citizen card through their main office. The process usually needs an individual (ideally the applicant) to go to the office and fill out the necessary forms. They have to accordingly attach a tonne of paperwork and certificates to prove the information provided. Since this can become challenging for older people to keep travelling back and forth, now they can apply for a senior citizen card through the website.
The website is the perfect mid-ground between tedious office travel and using the internet to submit documents. While the latter might be challenging, it is still convenient and takes a lot less time.
Know how to apply for senior citizen card form please click here.
What are some lesser-known benefits of having a senior citizen card?
Court Hearing Priority
Senior citizens aged 60 and above can write to the court for the preferential hearing of their cases to ensure convenience and faster response time, which is quite an assist since there are times where they have to spend hours waiting for their specific case to get passed through.
Other than just the privilege of coordinating this for court matters, most Government offices have the means to allow senior citizens to get through separate lines, so they don’t have to stand in long queues. They can also get discounts when working with Government buses, trains and flights.
Welfare Schemes
To assist senior citizens various welfare schemes were rolled out across all sectors throughout the country. Hospitals have separate queues and counters for the elderly while having people assist with their registration and clinical examination. For senior citizens, National Insurance offers the Varishta Mediclaim Policy, which gives them a maximum insurance sum of Rs. 1 lakh for hospitalization and Rs. 2 lakh for critical insurance. LIC’s Varishtha Pension Bima Yojana 2017 is available for senior citizens to receive an assured pension based on a guaranteed return rate of 8% for ten years. Under this scheme, they can invest a maximum of Rs. 7.5 lakh and receive their pension on a monthly, quarterly, half-yearly, or yearly basis.
Other than just the privilege of coordinating this for court matters, most Government offices have the means to allow senior citizens to get through separate lines, so they don’t have to stand in long queues. They can also get discounts when working with Government buses, trains and flights.
Simpler Passport Application
Applying for a passport is often a tedious process requiring a complete police verification before the applicant is issued the document. However, police verification may be done post-issuance (subject to condition) for senior citizens. To do so, they have to submit a copy of their children’s passport (aged above 18) who is studying abroad along with their application form, and it should have a page bearing the name of their parents.
