CHENNAI: Health minister Ma Subramaniam, distributed allotment orders for admission to a certificate course in geriatric care to the students.
The total number of seats for the course across 36 government medical colleges in Tamil Nadu is 975. The allotment orders for a 3-month certificate training course under the name of Elderly Care Assistant have been given to the students.
On account of the International Day of the Older Persons, the minister noted that Tamil Nadu has the second-highest number of elderly people in India, with 13.7 percent of the population above 60. “Unfortunately, many elderly parents are abandoned by their children and end up in old-age homes. Many private organisations are volunteering to arrange for caregivers to support the elderly at home to address this problem, and the training course will augment this process.”
“After completing this training course for 3 months, the name list of the candidates will be available in those colleges. If any patient needs helpers to take care of themselves or their parents, they can contact them. This certificate course will provide jobs for candidates who have class 10 and also be helpful to the elderly,” said the minister.
Talking about the vacant positions of deans in government medical colleges, the health minister said that retiring deans are immediately replaced by in-charge deans. The Minister assured that new appointments will be made soon.