The inaugural conference and launch of the above Association took place at the G B Pant Institute for Social Science in Allahabad on the 28th and 29th of March 2008.

This very successful conference was the result of energetic work on the part of Professor R N Kapoor and a team of enthusiastic helpers. In the course of just six months leading up to the conference, more than a dozen local U3A Groups were formed and there are many more in the process of formation. You can find our own website here.

We are delighted to announce that Dr Sheilu Sreenivasan has been elected as our first National Chairperson. Her commitment and the support of the Dignity Foundation (of which she is the Founder and President) have played a significant part in the success of the Association, and the Outreach Programme for support of Senior Citizens among the rural poor and dispossessed is bound to add a new dimension to an already exciting and ambitious set of Association Aims.

"I believe that any voluntary work – whether for disadvantaged old people, or any other segment of society or in divine service in temples, churches, or self-help groups should play an important part in one's retirement. In fact social work is, or should be, at the root of one’s Third Age.

For Rural India I am inspired by an European project: remedying social exclusion through laterlife learning — focusing on under-served citizens. By reviving our Adult Education programme and joining it up with our own “Graceful Ageing” tutorials, we can empower the rural people to enjoy Old Age as much we urge the urban Indians towards self actualisation. – This is a KEY CHALLENGE for the National Council."

Sheilu Sreenivasan
Email: dignity@vsnl.com