The Bengal Chamber of Commerce & Industry and Pronam, an initiative of Kolkata Police to provide support systems to senior citizens living alone, in association with The Telegraph organized a Conclave on Elderly Care - Royal Ageing on 12th May, 2018 at The Oberoi Grand, Kolkata.

Elderly people are witnessing a degree of isolation and disconnect with the younger ones. This has given rise to a variety of socio-economic issues regarding care for Elderly in our country. The Conclave aims to introspect into the various challenges confronting Old Age and its royal solutions.

The Welcome address was given by Mr. Deb A Mukherjee, Vice President, The Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry & Managing Director, Cenergist Energy Private Limited. Theme of the Conclave was deliberated by Dr. Amit Ghose, Chairperson Emeritus – Health Committee, The Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Special Addresses at the Inaugural Session were given by Mr. Pulak Chamaria, Director, Infinity Infotech Parks Limited and Dr. Sukumar Mukherjee, Sr. Physician & Chairman, GD Hospital & Diabetes Institute.

The Inaugural Session was followed by a session on Training for the care givers by Dr. Indrani Chakravarty, Gerontologist, Director, Calcutta Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology.

The next session was on social and economic challenges of ageing, how the right set of policies can equip individuals, families and societies to address these challenges and to reap its benefits. The Session was moderated by Mr. Raju S V Raman, Programme Consultant, Victoria Memorial Hall. The Speakers of the session were Mr. Prateep Sen, Managing Director, Tribeca Care, Ms. Neha Bagla, Saltee Group, Dr.Rana Mukherjee, Director, Care Continuum Pvt. Ltd., Dr. Gaurav Thukral, EVP & Chief Operating Officer, Healthcare & Home and Dr. Aparna Lahiri Chatterjee, Managing Trustee & President, Digante.

A Session on Legal Frame for Old Age was addressed by Ms. Anuradha Sen, Deputy Director, HelpAge India.

Dr. Arpan Pal, Principal Scientist and Head- Embedded Systems and Robotics, TCS Research and Innovation, Tata Consultancy Services addressed a Session on Technology & Innovation in Geriatrics.

The programme also had a session with doctors to raise awareness about the need to monitor the health of the elderly so that the health problems can be tackled before they require hospitalisation. The speakers were Dr. Subhankar Chowdhury, Endocrinologist, Dr. Subhro Banerjee, Cardiologist, Dr. Jai Ranjan Ram, Psychiatrist, Dr. Amitava Biswas, Ophthalmologist, Dr. Santosh Kumar, Orthopaedic and Ms. Maitreyee Bhattacherjee, Director, Care Continuum Pvt. Ltd. The Session was moderated by Dr. Arindam Chanda, Chairperson – Health Committee, The Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry and COO, GD Hospital & Diabetes Institute.

The Conclave was concluded with a Special Presentation on Wellness by Mrs. Keya Seth, Keya Seth Exclusive.

The day-long Conclave was attended by more than 500 delegates.

As part of the “Royal Ageing” Health Convention on Elderly Care, the evening was dedicated to paying tribute honouring the Senior Citizens who have contributed infinitely in building the ecosystem which we are privileged to inherit; who have given their yesterdays for our tomorrows. There was a Special Address at the Award Night by Shri Dinesh Trivedi, Hon’ble Member of the Parliament, Lok Sabha, All India Trinamool Congress.

The Awardees were:

• Award for Excellence in Teaching to Prof. Bharati Ray
• Iconic Lady Award to Smt Chitra Ghosh
• Iconic Mother Award to Smt Suhashini Mistry
• Award for Excellence to Institution in Research in the field of Ageing to Calcutta Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology
• Award for Excellence to Organization providing services to Senior Citizens to Pronam
• Award for Excellence to Private Sector Organization promoting well-being and welfare of Senior Citizens to East India Charitable Trust
• Award for Excellence as Nonagenarian to Dr Asim Kumar Dutta
• Lifetime Achievement Award to Shri S B Ganguly, Ex Chairman, Exide Industries
• Award for Excellence in Creative Art to Shri Dwijen Mukhopadhyay
• Award for Excellence in Sports and Adventure to Shri Subhas Bhowmick
• Award for Excellence to a Doctor to Dr. Kanti Bhushan Bakshi
• Award for Excellence as an Oncologist to Dr Mammen Chandy
• Award for Excellence for Social Service to Dr. Sharada Fatehpuria
• Award for Excellence to Nurse for her contribution to the society to Sr. Reena Basu

There was also a Fashion Show conducted by Smt Keya Seth.

The Award Show was followed by Dinner.