FOR SUNSET YEARS

How the Bijli Sakhi programme is benefitting everyone By being a part of a massive network of empowered women as a member of a self-help group (SHG), Rajshree, a Bijli Sakhi, on one hand, offers essential service to the villagers saving them from standing in long serpentine queues to submit power bills, on the other, she adds a handsome remuneration of 50,000 per month to her family's income making the life easier for everyone around XXXX LAX Courtesy Bijli Sakhi initiative, over 30,000 women have gained employment across UP since 2020.

A few years ago, three friends, Sunil Bhokare, Jagdish Shinde, and Nivrutti Pawar, graduated from a government medical college in the Marathwada region of Maharashtra and started serving society as medical professionals.

However, they always had a burning desire to do something more for the community. So, they pooled their resources and opened an old age home — Onkar Vrudha Ashram — in Pathari town of Parbhani district.

“We are very much settled in our lives and doing well in our profession…but that’s not all we wanted from our lives,shares Dr Bhokare, who is a treasurer of the Ashram and also works as additional CEO of Sambhaji Nagar (Aurangabad) Zilla Parishad.

The Ashram now has 42 senior citizens who have neither family nor support of any kind to live the twilight years of their lives. Thanks to the Ashram, these elderly individuals now have a place to live, that too relatively comfortably and honourably.

Dr. Bhokare handles the financial side of the Ashram. His college mate Jagdish Shinde, who is a paediatrician, is president of the Ashram, while another friend Dr Nivrutti Pawar, a chest physician, is the secretary.