Senior citizens housing policy: Easy healthcare access in new housing projects

To regulate housing for senior citizens in the state, the department of town and country planning (DTCP) has notified the senior citizen housing policy under which developers can set up housing projects with 40 percent ground coverage and mandatory healthcare facilities on the rest of the area.As per the new policy, the minimum and maximum area requirement for establishment of such projects can range from 0.5 acre to 10 acre. The project should have maximum floor area ratio of 225 and the site must be accessible from atleast a 12-metre wide road.

A senior DTCP official said that mandatory services include provision of 24X7 on-site ambulance service with oxygen support, tied up with nearest hospital. There should be provision of basic first-aid facility with nurse and physiotherapy services, geriatric care centres. “The objective of the policy is to streamline the senior citizens’ housing and ensure there is proper monitoring and regulation of such projects,” the official said.

The project developers and service providers are required to provide fitness facilities such as non-slippery and non-skid surfaces on the walking tracks. The policy also calls for trained security personnel, CCTV camera and emergency fire-fighting and disaster preparedness, besides easy access to emergency contact numbers.

To oversee the development and monitoring of these projects, the policy calls for a tripartite agreement between developer, service provider and the person who is allotted possession of the unit. The projects will be overseen by a ‘monitoring committee’ under the deputy commissioner of respective districts with representatives from developers, stakeholders, service providers and RWA.