With no help desk, Gurugram senior citizens a vulnerable lot

Sanjay Yadav

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Gurugram, August 12

The recent murder of an elderly woman in the DLF phase 1 area has reminded the entire city of Gurugram police’s “senior citizen in distress” facility launched with much pomp and show in 2013 that now lies defunct.

The senior citizen rescue van is non-functional and is in need of a driver. It is being used to fetch articles for the police department. The helpline mobile number has been defunct since 2016 when the official who was appointed the in charge of the facility retired. Another mobile number was issued, but it remains switched off all the time. With no dedicated cell or helpline number, senior citizens in the city are an ignored lot.

Former Commissioner of Police Alok Mittal had launched a special senior citizen specific facility in 2013. A special van was provided to reach out to senior citizens in distress and the rescue of the ill or those found abandoned on roads. Officials say the van has been off duty and there is no designated driver. Most of the times, it is used for running errands by the police department. Besides, it did not get the requisite publicity and hardly had any takers.

In 2013, the personal mobile number of the then cell in charge, Inspector Ram Pal, was made the helpline number. He retired in September 2016, but his number still gets calls as hardly anybody is aware of the new number 2221559. This is also the women’s helpline number. After the retirement of Ram Pal, the number was changed to 9599920693, but it is never reachable.

“Yes, we don’t have a driver for the van and the cell needs to be re-instituted. We have taken up the issue on priority and will now provide dedicated service to senior citizens,” said a senior police officer.

Meanwhile, the senior citizen registration facility, which allowed resident welfare societies to register all senior citizens in the area with the police, is yet to gain momentum.

According to the police, this year, 35 cases were registered by senior citizens for various crimes, out of which 32 have been disposed.

‘No visit from cops’

I am 57-year-old and live with my wife and my parents. The list of senior citizens of our area has been submitted to the police, but no cop has ever visited the area. The police needs to be more proactive — T K Satheesan, assistant general secretary, dlf qutub enclave rwa

‘Want more security’

The murder of an elderly woman shows lack of security. We want more vigilance and safety measures. We want means to keep a tab on the people entering our societies. The authorities need to adopt a more proactive approach towards senior citizens — Suresh Kumar, resident of e block of dlf-I