Udaipur.
On the occasion of completion of 12 years of Tara Sansthan, a grand function is being organized on Monday 08 April at Maa Draupadi Devi Anand Old Age Home. The chief guest of the function will be former President Ramnath Kovind. This information was shared in the press conference by Kalpana Goyal, Founder President of Tara Sansthan and Deepesh Mittal, Founder Secretary.
During the Function, which will be held from 11 am to 12 noon, elderly residents of the Vridhashram will present a fashion show and Masti ki Pathshala program on the theme of Unity in Diversity. Kalpana Goyal stated that Tara Sansthan was registered in 2009 in Udaipur city as a non-profit organization. The institution’s objective is to provide completely free services to the poor, needy, and homeless people, especially the elderly, through various activities.
The Sansthan initially focused on providing free treatment services to cataract patients. During this period, cataract-affected individuals were provided free treatment through eye examination camps held in various locations. Through these camps, Tara Sansthan came across many elderly individuals whose financial, physical, and emotional conditions were very distressing. Some elderly individuals shared that their children had left them alone, some had lost all family members, some had not married, and some did not want to live with only daughters. After learning about these situations, the sansthan decided to construct a fully equipped Vridhashram specifically for these elderly individuals, where they could live with dignity along with necessary facilities.
Kalpana Goyal mentioned that as part of this initiative, Tara Sansthan inaugurated the Anand Vridhashram with a capacity of 50 elderly individuals on February 3, 2012. It was granted recognition by the Department of Social Justice and Empowerment, Udaipur, on December 17, 2013, under the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2006. Following this, the sansthan received applications from numerous destitute elderly individuals across the country who wanted to reside in the Vridhashram but could not be accommodated due to limited housing capacity. Therefore, on April 22, 2018, Tara sansthan inaugurated a new building for Anand Vridhashram with a capacity of 150 elderly individuals.
Deepesh Mittal further explained that a donor from Prayagraj expressed a desire to convert their building into a Vridhashram for the elderly residing in Prayagraj. Consequently, on November 21, 2016, the operation of the Ravindranath Gaur Anand Vridhashram with a capacity of 20 residents was initiated in that building. Witnessing the successful operation of the Vridhashram, the Rajasthan government approved Tara sansthan to operate a state-run Vridhashram under the PPP mode in 2018. Currently, 25 elderly individuals reside in this Vridhashram.
The number of applications received for residency in the Udaipur-based Vridhashram of Tara Sansthan was steadily increasing. Consequently, on September 3, 2022, Tara Sansthan commenced the operation of the “Maa Draupadi Devi Anand Vridhashram” with a capacity of 162 individuals in Udaipur. Presently, services are provided to 210 elderly individuals across all Vridhashrams. So far, services have been provided to more than 800 elderly individuals, and the last rites of approximately 92 individuals have been conducted by the institution.
The Mumukshu Bhavan in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, which is part of the Kashi Vishwanath Corridor, is for those individuals who want to spend their last days in Kashi and wish to leave their bodies there. Tara Institution was selected by the Varanasi Special Area Development Authority to operate this facility. Currently, 39 individuals reside there.
