With the grey-haired people in plush urban Indian locales increasingly falling prey to criminals, social institutions are now stepping in to provide physical security in day care centres and clubs bringing within their ambit even those who were considered `independent' in the conventional sense.

``One of the main problems that the elderly face today is that of loneliness, which is more prevalent in the urban middle class where the joint family system is collapsing and there's nobody to look after them,'' says Maj Gen (retd) S S Sandhu, director general of Helpage India, the country's biggest NGO involved with the silver population. Many of the retired elderly do not require money but just need to remain occupied insome constructive way for they are considered a hindrance, notes Himanshu Rath of Agewell India Private Limited, which has initiated a number of schemes for the aged.

``Uptil now welfare for the aged usually meant income-generating schemes for the poor, 40 per cent of whom live below the poverty line. But we now intend to target the middle class who are more in need of companionship and emotional sustenance to tide over their loneliness,'' says Sandhu.

It is to overcome this problem that day care centres, as different from old-age homes, have been started for them, says Sandhu noting that there are around 123 such facilities across the country. At the day care centre, the elderly meet others of the same age group, share ideas and engage in healthy discussions and ``just have a good time,'' says Dr Rekha Khandelwal of the Vardaan Hospital, which has just opened a day care facility for the aging -- specifically for the middle class -- the first of its kind in the capital.

Agewell has come out with anescort service also, in which a counsellor visits the person once a fortnight and talks him out of loneliness and even runs errands for them.

``We also run an old age club where the aged meet and socialise with others and do not feel lonely and cut off from others'', says Rath.

However, most such services which are not state-sponsored come for a price. The lifetime membership at Agewell's club is Rs 5,000 while membership at Khandelwal's day centre in the capital costs Rs 150 per month along with a registration fee of Rs 300.

Nevertheless, there are many who are willing to pay and do not harp upon the argument that it's the duty of the state to provide all such facilities.

According to O P Nanda, who visits the centre everyday with his wife ``there should be more such centres as they not only give us a regular medical check-up but also provide us an opportunity to interact with others of the same age group.