Thiruvananthapuram, Sep 11 (PTI): Keralam has launched an elder-friendly certification scheme for government offices, billed as the first such system in the country, the Chief Minister’s Office said on Friday.
The Department of Senior Citizens’ Welfare has introduced the Elder-Friendly Office Certification (EFOC), under which institutions ranging from village and taluk offices to hospitals, banks and transport counters will be assessed against common standards, it said. Certain criteria will be mandatory for certification, including step-free entry, a ground-floor toilet, a priority queue for senior citizens and officers specifically assigned to address their needs.
Certified offices will be awarded Gold, Silver or Bronze ratings based on their performance, with certifications requiring renewal after a fixed period. Unannounced inspections will also be conducted in between, a CMO statement said.
Stressing the significance of the initiative, the CMO said Keralam has one of the highest proportions of senior citizens among the Indian states, a figure expected to rise further over the next two decades.
The scheme seeks to address difficulties faced by senior citizens while visiting government offices, including long queues, staircases without handrails, forms in small print and counters located on upper floors.
Offices will be evaluated across five domains — building accessibility (30 per cent), service delivery (25 per cent), staff training and conduct (20 per cent), communication (15 per cent) and participation (10 per cent), it said.
An office will not qualify for certification if any of these mandatory requirements is missing, irrespective of its overall score, it said. Ten per cent of certified offices will undergo unannounced inspections every year. Site visits and scoring will be conducted by independent, empanelled third-party agencies with no connection to the offices being assessed.
A Nodal Cell under the Department of Senior Citizens’ Welfare will maintain the registry, while a state-level Steering Committee will approve the standards and decide on Gold awards, it further said.
The Sharjah model in the UAE, the World Health Organization’s Age-Friendly Cities network and the Certified Age-Friendly Employer programme in the US served as models for the EFOC, the CMO said.
Technical standards for ramps, signage and toilets will follow national guidelines issued in 2021 under the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act. The initiative brings such standards together for the first time in India, it said.
In the first phase, the criteria will be finalised, a government order issued and agencies empanelled.
Over the following six months, one office in each district — 14 in all — will be selected for the pilot.
In the second year, the scheme will be extended statewide to village, taluk and collectorate offices, treasuries, RTOs and government hospitals. From the third year, it will cover other offices as well.
Private hospitals, nursing homes and pharmacies will also be allowed to participate voluntarily on a paid basis.
Certified offices will receive a plaque and a QR-coded digital certificate, while their names will be included in a public registry.
The pilot phase is expected to begin within the current financial year once the empanelment of agencies is completed, the CMO added.
Saturday, September 12, 2026