Laws in place but struggle goes on for senior citizens
NO RESPITE Study held in 4 states says speed of settling cases filed by elderly remains slow
NEWDELHI: Over a decade after the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007, was passed by the government, the pace of settling cases filed by senior citizens remains sluggish, shows a study conducted in four states by a nongovernment organisation (NGO).
A preliminary study by HelpAge India in Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Haryana, and Kerala, based on 115 petitions filed by senior citizens in these states, shows only 57% of the cases were settled while 33% were under consideration. Released on Monday, the report said repeated visits to tribunals set up to deal with such cases was cited as a problem by 42% respondents while an equal number complained of delay in hearing on appointed dates.
The government in 2007 had passed a law making maintenance of parents and senior citizens by children or relatives obligatory and justiciable through tribunals. The law provides for revocation of transfer of property by senior citizens in case of negligence by relatives, penal provision of either three months’ imprisonment or a fine of ₹5,000 or both for abandonment, and establishment of oldage homes for the poor.
To review the status of cases filed under the law, the study was conducted in eight districts, which were selected based on the preparedness to implement the Act and the number of cases filed and settled over a period. Two districts from each state were selected based on the most petitions filed — Amritsar and Ludhiana (Punjab), Ambala and Gurugram (Haryana), Ernakulam and Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala), and Chennai and Thiruvallur (Tamil Nadu).
Mathew Cherian, CEO of HelpAge India, said tribunals to hear the cases had not been formed in some states, in some the Act was not notified, whereas in others the tribunals faced financial and infrastructural inadequacies.
A few of the petitioners were dissatisfied with the implementation of the final decision of the tribunal authority. “The duty of the tribunal officer ended with the Most cases of abuse were from Punjab, mental torture from Kerala, neglect from TN
release of final decision. Whenever they received a complaint of non-compliance of the final decision, they simply forwarded the request to the local police department for necessary action,” the report said.
Poor coordination between the three dealing departments — revenue, social welfare and police — affected the implementation of the Act at ground level and 21% of the petitioner reported rude and bad behaviour by tribunal staff.
“In Kerala, the tribunal staff was considerate and respectful while in Tamil Nadu, they were largely rude. None of the petitioners received any support from the district social welfare/social justice officers who were supposed to be playing an important role in reconciliation,” it said.