Thousands of others are not covered by Senior Citizens Act.
Only 1,800 senior citizens living alone in the city are registered with the police. As per the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007, the police are required to maintain records of senior citizens living alone in their jurisdiction to ensure the welfare of the elderly.
A representative of the police station or a volunteer has to visit these senior citizens at regular intervals or at least once a month. Also, the police have to maintain a separate register containing all important particulars relating to offences committed against senior citizens.
But most of the population of senior citizens is deprived of the benefits as they are not registered with the police stations.
International Longevity Centre (ILC) and Yashwantrao Chavan academy of development administration (Yashada) organised a two-day training workshop on the Act, which was inaugurated on Wednesday.
Speaking of the role of the police in implementing the Act, additional commissioner of police, Anant Shinde, said the police have to carry out these responsibilities with the existing staff and there was no separate staff for it.
“We have been trying our best to ensure the safety and welfare of the elderly. Regular visits by the police staff, investigation of crimes against senior citizens and other duties mentioned in the Act are being carried out,’’ he said.
He said the helpline of the police for senior citizens too has received a good response and most of the calls were just to have someone to listen to them.
“It is sad that they do not have anyone to talk to. So they call us up. They also seek our help in dealing with issues like paying bills and matters concerning the Pune Municipal Corporation. We have meetings with civic officials to sort out the issues,’’ he added.
But he agreed that the number of senior citizens registered with the police have to increase.
Retired IPS officer and chairman of International Longevity Centre, Jayant Umranikar, said it is the duty of the police stations to register senior citizens in their jurisdiction.
“We cannot expect the elderly to go to the police station and register themselves. The problem is that the government has to provide infrastructure to implement such laws, which is not done. As a result, the implementation of the Act suffers,’’ he added.
He also suggested that NGOs need to be included in implementation and given an active role to make the law
effective.
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