NGOs for Senior Citizens in India: Elder-Care Organisations We Want to Work With
Ten elder-care organisations doing important work across India, what each one does, and how we hope to work with groups like them.
On this page
The short answer
Major NGOs for senior citizens in India include HelpAge India (healthcare, helplines and livelihoods nationwide), Agewell Foundation (volunteer network and helpline), Dignity Foundation (companionship and dementia day care), Nightingales Medical Trust (dementia care in Bengaluru), ARDSI (dementia support) and Janaseva Foundation (old age homes, Pune). Tata Trusts helped build the national Elderline 14567. None of them has partnered with or endorsed Kavach.
- India's elder-care NGOs cover healthcare, helplines, dementia care, companionship, livelihoods and residential care.
- None of the organisations listed has endorsed Kavach or partnered with us. This is an open invitation.
- We want to pilot with older people who live alone and co-design Kavach Plus fall detection with caregivers.
- Any insight we share will be anonymised, consented and handled under the DPDP Act, 2023.
- Reach us through the contact form, choosing Partnership, fleet or retail, or at corporate@kavachdevices.com.
This page is for anyone looking for an NGO for senior citizens in India, whether to find help for a parent, to volunteer or to donate, and for elder-care organisations we would like to work with. It describes ten organisations doing serious work with older people across the country, then sets out plainly how Kavach hopes to work with groups like them.
Please note: none of the organisations listed here has endorsed Kavach or entered into a partnership with us. This is a list of organisations whose work we respect, and an open invitation to talk.
Why does elder safety need partners?
Because the hardest parts of keeping an older person safe are human, not technical. A device can send an alert, but someone has to know the person, earn their trust, explain how the device works, check in when nothing is wrong, and know which door to knock on when something is.
India's elder-care organisations already do this every day. They run helplines, visit people who live alone, train caregivers, care for people living with dementia and help families with pensions, health cover and legal questions. Anything we build will work better shaped by their experience than designed in isolation.
Which NGOs work for senior citizens in India?
The organisations below are a starting point, not a ranking. They range from national bodies to city-based trusts, and each links to its official website. Descriptions are based on what each organisation publishes about itself.
HelpAge India
Founded in 1978 and headquartered in New Delhi, HelpAge India works for disadvantaged older people through state offices across the country. Its programmes include doorstep primary healthcare, vision restoration, elder helplines, active ageing centres, physiotherapy, Elder Self Help Groups for rural livelihoods and disaster relief. It received the UN Population Award in 2020. helpageindia.org
Agewell Foundation
Set up in 1999 in New Delhi, Agewell Foundation works through a large network of volunteers across India. It runs a helpline for older people along with research, advocacy and digital literacy work, and has held special consultative status with the UN Economic and Social Council since 2011. agewellfoundation.org
Dignity Foundation
Founded in Mumbai in 1995 by Dr Sheilu Sreenivasan, Dignity Foundation helps older people age actively and with dignity in several Indian cities. It runs Chai Masti centres for social connection, loneliness mitigation centres, dementia and geriatric day care, and a helpline for reporting elder abuse and neglect. dignityfoundation.com
Nightingales Medical Trust
Established in 1998 and based in Bengaluru, Nightingales Medical Trust works with older people and people living with dementia. It runs dementia residential and day care, active ageing and senior employment programmes, training in geriatric and dementia care, and elder abuse prevention work, including an elders helpline run with Bengaluru City Police. nightingaleseldercare.com
Silver Innings
Started in 2008 by Sailesh Mishra in the Mumbai region, Silver Innings combines a not-for-profit foundation with a social enterprise working towards an elder-friendly society. Its work includes an information and referral helpline for older people and families, and A1 Snehanjali, an assisted-living home near Mumbai that cares for older people including those living with dementia. silverinnings.com
Harmony for Silvers Foundation
A Mumbai-based foundation set up in 2004 by Tina Ambani to improve the quality of life of older people. Its work has included Harmony, a magazine for older readers published from 2004 to 2019, the Harmony Interactive Centre for senior citizens in south Mumbai, and senior citizens' runs at marathons in Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru. harmonyindia.org
Janaseva Foundation, Pune
Founded in Pune in 1988 by Dr Vinod Shah, Janaseva Foundation is a charitable trust caring for older, disabled and destitute people. Its facilities include an old age home at Ambi village opened in 1999 and a long-term care unit there that has taken in older people who were previously homeless. janasevafoundation.org
Tata Trusts
Tata Trusts began a dedicated elder-care programme in 2017. It developed Elder Spring, a response system for older people in Hyderabad, with the Telangana government, and with NSE Foundation served as technical partner to the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment in building Elderline 14567, the national helpline. It has also supported active ageing centres in Bhubaneswar and Hyderabad and rural elder-care work in Maharashtra, Karnataka and Telangana. tatatrusts.org
Alzheimer's and Related Disorders Society of India (ARDSI)
Founded in 1992, with its national office in Kunnamkulam, Kerala, ARDSI works through chapters in more than 20 Indian cities to build a dementia-friendly society. It offers helplines and counselling, day care and full-time care centres, caregiver training and community awareness. ardsi.org
All India Senior Citizens' Confederation (AISCCON)
In existence since 2001, AISCCON is an apex body of senior citizens' associations and forums in more than 25 states. It acts as a collective voice for older people on policy and welfare and holds national conferences, and through its affiliates it says it reaches more than 20 lakh senior citizens, most of them in rural India. aisccon.org
If you are looking for help for an older relative rather than an organisation to support, start with Elderline 14567, the free national helpline. Our guide to senior citizen helplines, rights and schemes lists the other numbers and schemes.
How do you choose an elder-care organisation to support or volunteer with?
Look for organisations that are open about their work and careful with the people they serve. A few practical checks:
- Does it publish annual reports and audited accounts?
- Does it explain clearly where it works and what it does there?
- Does it train and screen volunteers before they visit older people at home?
- Does it ask older people for consent before sharing their stories or photographs?
- Is it focused on older people, or is elder care one programme among many? Both can be good; just know which you are choosing.
How do we want to work with elder-care organisations?
Kavach is a small personal safety device: one squeeze sends an SOS with a live location link to a person's chosen contacts, who do not need an app. We are building it for anyone who might need help in a hurry, and older people who live alone are among the people we most want to get it right for. These are the ways we hope to work with elder-care organisations:
- Pilots with older people who live alone. Small, supervised trials with people who choose to take part, to learn whether the device is easy to carry, trigger, charge and trust.
- Co-designing Kavach Plus fall detection with caregivers. Kavach Plus, our next device, will add fall and impact detection. It is not available yet, and we want caregivers and older people to shape how its alerts, cancel window and false alarms work before it ships.
- Training volunteers and families. Simple sessions on setting up contacts, practising in Test mode and knowing what to do when an alert arrives.
- Routing people in distress to the right helplines. Making sure users and their contacts know when to call 112, Elderline 14567, 1930 for fraud or a local police senior citizen cell, so the device adds to existing help rather than replacing it.
- Programme pricing for nonprofits. Agreed case by case, depending on the size and nature of the programme.
- Insights shared only with consent. Any insight we share with a partner will be anonymised and consented, and handled under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023. We do not sell data or use it for advertising.
What will we not do?
We will not describe any organisation as a partner, use its name or logo, or suggest it endorses Kavach unless we have agreed that together in writing. Taking part in any pilot will be the older person's own choice. And if a pilot shows that Kavach is not the right fit for a group of older people, we would rather hear that early.
How can an elder-care organisation reach us?
Use the contact form and choose "Partnership, fleet or retail", or email corporate@kavachdevices.com. It helps if you tell us:
- Your organisation's name, city and the communities you work with
- Roughly how many older people a pilot might involve, and whether they live alone
- What you would want to learn, or what worries you about safety technology
- Who on your team we should speak with
We are happy to start with a conversation rather than a proposal. If your work is with women's safety rather than older people, see our open invitation to women's safety nonprofits in India.
If you or someone near you is in immediate danger, call 112. It works across India.
Questions people ask
Which are the main NGOs for senior citizens in India?
National organisations include HelpAge India, founded in 1978 and working through state offices across India on healthcare, helplines and livelihoods; Agewell Foundation, with its volunteer network and helpline; and the All India Senior Citizens' Confederation, an apex body of senior citizens' associations. City-based groups include Dignity Foundation, Nightingales Medical Trust in Bengaluru and Janaseva Foundation in Pune.
Which NGOs help people with dementia in India?
The Alzheimer's and Related Disorders Society of India (ARDSI), founded in 1992, works through chapters in more than 20 cities with helplines, day care and caregiver training. Nightingales Medical Trust in Bengaluru, Dignity Foundation and Silver Innings also run dementia care services. Elderline 14567 can point families to support near them.
How can I volunteer for senior citizens in India?
Contact an elder-care organisation near you and ask about volunteering. Many need help with companionship visits, phone befriending, digital literacy sessions, events and fundraising. Agewell Foundation runs a large volunteer network, and organisations such as HelpAge India and Dignity Foundation work in several cities. Ask about training and safeguarding before you start working with older people.
Is Kavach partnered with HelpAge India or any other elder-care NGO?
No. Kavach has no partnership with, and no endorsement from, HelpAge India or any other organisation named in this article. We list them because we respect their work. This article is an open invitation, and any future partnership would be announced only after both sides have agreed it in writing.
How can an NGO partner with Kavach?
Use the contact form at kavachdevices.com, choose Partnership, fleet or retail, or email corporate@kavachdevices.com. Tell us who you work with, where, how many older people might take part, and what you would want to learn from a pilot. Programme pricing for nonprofits is agreed case by case, and data is handled under the DPDP Act, 2023.
Sources
- HelpAge India: About us
- Agewell Foundation
- Dignity Foundation
- Nightingales Medical Trust
- Alzheimer's and Related Disorders Society of India (ARDSI)
- Janaseva Foundation, Pune
- Tata Trusts: Elder care
- All India Senior Citizens' Confederation (AISCCON)
Checked on 3 October 2026. Helpline numbers and rules change, so confirm with the official source before you rely on them.
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Questions, partnerships or orders for a team? Write to corporate@kavachdevices.com, or learn more at kavachdevices.com.
Senior Citizen Helpline Numbers, Rights and Government Schemes in India
Elderline 14567, police senior citizen cells, the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007 and the main central schemes, with a summary table.
Fall Detection for Elderly People in India: How It Works and What to Do
How fall alerts work, why they sometimes miss or misfire, the options in India, and calm first steps after an older person falls.
Women's Safety NGOs in India: 14 Organisations and Our Open Invitation
Fourteen Indian nonprofits working on violence against women, safe public spaces, legal aid and livelihoods, and an open invitation from Kavach to work together.