During a national workshop on “Creating a Well-Functioning Care Economy” held on 22 May 2026, the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment launched two digital platforms aimed at strengthening India’s eldercare ecosystem: the JEEVAN mobile application and the SHATAYU dashboard. Developed through the Department of Social Justice and Empowerment and supported by the National Institute of Social Defence (NISD), the platforms seek to improve welfare access, emergency support, and organized caregiving services for senior citizens.
JEEVAN and SHATAYU: Two Complementary Platforms
The JEEVAN (Joint Elderly Empowerment & Virtual Assistance Network) mobile application functions as a user-facing welfare and assistance platform designed for elderly citizens. Built with large-font interfaces, simplified navigation, and voice-enabled accessibility, the app consolidates information on government welfare schemes, senior citizen homes, and support services. It also includes an SOS emergency feature intended to connect users with police, medical, and local administrative responders during emergencies.
The SHATAYU (Senior Holistic Care Assistance and Training For Your Utility) dashboard serves as a digital registry and monitoring platform for geriatric care services. Its core feature is a searchable district-level directory of trained and certified caregivers, enabling families and institutions to identify verified caregiving personnel while helping administrators track the availability and distribution of trained workers across states.
Together, the two platforms reflect a broader effort to integrate elder welfare and caregiving services into a more structured and digitally supported care ecosystem.
Key Benchmarks Eldercare Launch May 2026
The Consumer Portal: Rolls out the JEEVAN App equipped with integrated emergency assistance and simplified user interfaces.
The Care Registry: Launches the SHATAYU Dashboard to serve as the baseline database for certified geriatric personnel.
Spatial Mapping Granularity: Sets up search tools to locate verified, professional caregivers down to the individual district level.
Institutional Auditing: Embeds a live directory tracking all elderly care homes funded and supported by the Department of Social Justice.
Macro Policy Alignment: Leverages both tech platforms to transition informal domestic eldercare into a regulated component of the formal national care economy.
What is a "Care Economy"?
The care economy is the specialized macroeconomic sector encompassing all paid and unpaid labor, services, and structural infrastructure dedicated to nurturing and supporting the physical, psychological, and emotional well-being of dependent populations, including senior citizens, infants, children, and individuals with chronic illnesses or disabilities. This sector includes both unpaid domestic care (traditionally handled within families) and formal institutional services like nursing, geriatric caregiving, medical assistance, and community shelters. In national policy and planning, formalizing the care economy through tools like the SHATAYU dashboard is essential: it shifts irregular, unregulated domestic labor into a formalized service sector, establishing certified safety training standards, minimum wage protections, and reliable service-delivery mechanisms.
Policy Relevance
Responds to India’s Aging Demographic Profile: As fertility rates decline and life expectancy improves, demand for organized eldercare services and welfare support systems is expected to expand significantly.
Formalizes Geriatric Care Services: The SHATAYU registry may reduce risks associated with informal caregiving markets by helping families identify trained and verified personnel.
Improves Welfare Access for Senior Citizens: Consolidating schemes and institutional information within JEEVAN can reduce information gaps and administrative dependence in accessing welfare benefits.
Strengthens Emergency Support Systems: The SOS feature creates a faster and more direct response channel for elderly users during medical or personal emergencies.
Creates Employment Pathways in the Care Sector: Public visibility and certification of caregivers may encourage expansion of vocational training and employment opportunities in geriatric and community care services.
Relevant Question for Policy Stakeholders: How can the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment integrate the SHATAYU certified caregiver database with the Ministry of Labour’s e-Shram portal to ensure that geriatric caregivers receive formal minimum-wage protections and state-sponsored health insurance?
Follow the Full News Here: Launch of JEEVAN App and SHATAYU Geriatric Caregiver Dashboard