Helplines and schemes for senior citizens in India
A short list of official numbers and schemes that families looking after an older parent should know about. We list only what we could confirm on an official Government of India page or publication, and we show the date we last checked.
Reviewed 26 October 2026. Researched and drafted with AI assistance, checked against the sources listed below.
Checked on 26 October 2026. Numbers, hours and scheme rules change. If a number does not work or a detail is out of date, please tell us.
In an emergency
Call 112 straight away. If your parent’s state, hospital or housing society also has its own ambulance number, save that too. Put the numbers in every family phone and write them on the emergency card.
A single number for emergencies such as police, fire and ambulance services, with help dispatched to the location of the emergency. A Government of India backgrounder dated 24 November 2025 says it is operational in 36 States and Union Territories. Besides a phone call, the Government lists SMS, email, an SOS signal, the ERSS web portal and the “112 India” mobile app, which can send an alert with your location.
Run by: Government of India, through the Emergency Response Support System (ERSS), funded under the Nirbhaya Fund. Each State or Union Territory capital has an emergency call-answering centre that coordinates police, fire and health services. Hours: Not stated in the sources we checked
Free information, guidance and emotional support for senior citizens, and field intervention in cases of abuse. The October 2025 government backgrounder still lists this toll-free number.
Run by: Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, with the National Institute of Social Defence and state governments Hours: 8 AM to 8 PM, all seven days (as announced in 2021; it is classed as a non-emergency service)
Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY for everyone aged 70 and above
On 29 October 2024 the scheme was extended to provide free treatment benefits of up to ₹5 lakh per year to senior citizens aged 70 years and above, irrespective of socio-economic status.
What to do: Ask at a government hospital, a scheme-empanelled hospital or the official scheme channels how to enrol and which hospitals are covered.
Provides assisted-living devices such as walking sticks, elbow crutches, walkers, hearing aids, wheelchairs and dentures to senior citizens with age-related disabilities who are in the BPL category or have a monthly income of up to ₹15,000. Devices are made by ALIMCO and distributed through camps; for people aged 80 or above they can be delivered at the doorstep.
What to do: Ask the district social welfare office, or call Elder Line 14567, about the next distribution camp near you.
According to a Government of India backgrounder from October 2025, India’s population aged 60 and above is projected to more than double, from about 100 million in 2011 to about 230 million by 2036, based on the July 2020 report of the Technical Group on Population Projections.