Parents are expected to take care of their children. Now children too had better take care of their parents or they can land up in jail.
Lok Sabha passes law to ensure senior citizens are not left at their children’s mercy
NEW DELHI: Parents are expected to take care of their children. Now children too had better take care of their parents or they can land up in jail.
The Lok Sabha on Wednesday night passed a landmark bill to convert the moral duty of children and grandchildren towards their parents into a legal duty. The bill envisages stringent measures against ill-treatment of parents and senior citizens.
More importantly, it allows people to take back property they had willed to their children or grandchildren who ill-treat them.
The law will come as a great relief in these times when increasingly there are reports of parents and senior citizens being treated shabbily by their children, grandchildren, stepchildren or adopted children.
The bill will now go to the Rajya Sabha on Thursday or Friday for its consideration.
The Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Bill 2007 moved by social justice minister Meira Kumar was discussed over two hours and passed by the house.
The bill was introduced in March and referred to the standing committee for its recommendations. The government has introduced a provision for penalty – ranging from a fine of Rs5,000 to imprisonment for three months.
The Bill, earlier called The Senior Citizens (Protection, Maintenance and Welfare) Bill 2006 has been renamed to include parents after a lot of hue and cry from civil society and NGOs.
The definition of senior citizen means a person above 60 years of age. However, since many aggrieved parents were below 60 it was feared they may not get the benefit of the law. Hence, the bill covers parents under the age of 60 as well.
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