Govt forced operator to restart services after warning of blacklisting
PANAJI
After being inactive for almost eight months, the ELDERLINE 14567 helpline — meant to help senior citizens facing abuse, abandonment or emergencies — has quietly started working again in Goa.
However, officials told The Goan that this only happened after the Directorate of Social Welfare issued a strong warning to the operator, Alankit Assignments Limited.
The helpline was launched on October 1, 2024, with much publicity as part of the Centre’s National Helpline for Senior Citizens (NHSC). It was expected to offer support from 8 am to 8 pm, including emotional support, legal help, help in abuse cases and assistance to reunite abandoned elders with their families.
But instead of offering these services, the helpline stopped working.
“There were no call attendants, no staff and operations were shut for nearly seven to eight months. How are senior citizens supposed to get the help they were promised?” an official told The Goan.
Internal documents seen by The Goan showed that Social Welfare Director Ajit Panchwadkar had written to the company, asking why the MoU should not be cancelled and the company blacklisted for not following the agreement.
The letter, which also included earlier Goan reports, gave Alankit seven days to explain the long shutdown. It also warned that if the company’s reply was not good enough, action would be taken through official channels.
In its reply, the company reportedly blamed technical and operational problems. But the department is said to remain unconvinced, even though it has allowed the helpline to restart. “How can technical glitches last eight months?” the official asked, adding, “Nevertheless, the call centre has now resumed functioning. But we need to monitor closely whether it complies with the MoU.”
Officials also hinted that the government may not pay the company for the months when the helpline was not working. The MoU, valid for one year. The helpline had already faced criticism within weeks of its launch, as calls from Goa were reportedly being routed to a central facility in Delhi.
It is also understood that training has not yet been given to the call centre staff or other key groups like the State Legal Services Authority, the Health Department and the police — even though the agreement requires all of them to work together.
