MADURAI: Tamil Nadu Senior Citizens Welfare Movement has sought the intervention of the state government to create a welfare board for the elderly to protect their interests.

Welcoming the Chief Minister MK Stalin-led government’s initiative of door delivery of ration items for elders, A Sankar, founder president of the Welfare Movement, on Wednesday, said the elderly citizens constitute 11.2 per cent of the State’s population.

On grounds of senility, people tend to have more memory loss, suffer numerous health issues, with arthritis being one of the most common diseases, he said and requested the government to create taluk-level hospitals and ensure required treatments and follow-up care for the elderly.

He also demanded that the government set up care homes for the elderly in rural areas and day care centres for them in all districts. Moreover, he said the government should constitute a monitoring committee to oversee those homes for effective functioning. People at the age of 60 living below the poverty line should be vaccinated to prevent pneumonia, he added.