Scheme for senior citizens staying alone a non-starter

Manmeet Singh Gill

Advertisement

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, April 24

Even as the state government had instructed the beat staff at all police stations to visit elderly persons living alone frequently so as to give them a sense of security and to check crime against them, many of the senior citizens said the rules were not being followed.

The state government had issued a notification on November 27, 2014, making it mandatory for all police stations to maintain a new register titled, ‘Visits to senior citizens’, for monitoring the visits of beat staff to the senior citizens.

As per the notification, the beat staff was supposed to visit elderly person living alone once every seven days and elderly couple living alone once every 15 days.

Retired PES official and general secretary, Senior Citizens Forum, BR Preenja said: “The local police have not started following the notification. The department should initiate efforts so that crime against senior citizens living alone can be checked.”

Preenja said the government should also initiate a campaign to create awareness about the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents, Senior Citizens Act, 2007, and a national policy on older persons. “In the absence of any awareness among people and even law enforcers, such rules for the welfare of elderly are not being implemented.”

Another resident, Kirpa Ram, said: “Nowadays, elderly couples have to stay alone as their kids have settled in other places. Though we do not have any issue with the same, we fear that someone might consider us as an easy target.”

He said the notification issued regarding the visit of the beat staff to elderly living alone could be of great help in providing a sense of security among them.