Ministry building 'experience bank' to pass senior citizens' knowledge to new generation

The Ministry of Women, Children, Gender and Sexual Minorities and Social Security has begun work on a 'Senior Citizens' Experience Bank' to pass on senior citizens' lifelong knowledge and skills to the new generation.

The ministry made the concept public on the occasion of the 36th International Day of Older Persons. Minister Sita Badi said the learning of senior citizens is an intellectual and social asset of the country.

According to her, digital technology will be used to institutionalize the preservation, documentation and transfer of such experience across generations. Minister Badi expressed the view that senior citizens should be seen not merely as a group needing care but as active and respected partners of society.

The ministry plans to collect the experience senior citizens have gained in fields including agriculture, enterprise, professions, education, administration, art and culture, social life, and traditional knowledge. Intergenerational knowledge transfer will be the main basis of the bank.

The ministry said the bank's primary objective is to ensure that knowledge acquired through decades of practice does not vanish along with the senior citizens. Once the records are prepared, students and youth will be able to draw guidance from such knowledge, the ministry said.

Alongside social security, health and care, the core idea is to put senior citizens' experience to use for society itself. The ministry said it will expand the experience bank in phases.