Revamped policy for elderly to make laws more stringent

NEW DELHI: The government is set to toughen laws dealing with the abuse of the elderly as part of a new national policy this year.

The draft National Policy on Senior Citizens, 2016, will also lay emphasis on good and affordable healthcare for senior citizens by making public health services and health insurance more accessible. The plan is to make punishment for violations under the Indian Penal Code and the maintenance and welfare of elders law more stringent, but details weren’t immediately available.

“The policy also (provides for) assisted living devices for senior citizens living Below the Poverty Line and afflicted with age-related disabilities so that they can live independent and productive lives,” said an official of the ministry of social justice and empowerment.

“Crimes and violence against senior citizens are on the rise and under the new policy, protective services would be established and linked to helplines, legal aid and other measures.”

Some 50% of India’s 100 million old people, or those above the age of 60 years, are abused, says a 2014 survey by Help Age India, a non-profit organisation working for the rights of senior citizens.

In India, a breakdown of the traditional family support system and absence of state support are increasingly leaving the elderly to fend for themselves. Newspapers regularly report beatings of and fraud against senior citizens as well as instances of murder of elderly people, often over property disputes.

“According to the 2014 data of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), more than 1,000 elderly people were murdered followed by other crimes like cheating, robbery, etc,” the ministry official told HT.

Much of the blame for the disintegration of the multi-generational joint family system is put on changing ethos in a fast modernising country.