Elders unsafe despite DGP diktat

Thiruvananthapuram: The murder of an elderly couple in Palakkad may throw light on the directives issued by the then DGP in 2010 to the police personnel to ensure the safety of senior citizens.

According to the circular, all police stations should maintain a register of senior citizens and a police official should visit senior citizens at their residence at least once in a month. Service of counsellors may also be used.  The police were also told to form volunteers' committees  at each locality to maintain regular contact between senior citizens and police.

All police stations should maintain special registers on the offences against senior citizens in the station's jurisdiction and any police officer inspecting a police station should invariably review the register, it said.

The circular, issued on the basis of the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act and Kerala Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Rules, mandated that police stations should send  reports to district police chiefs or city police commissioners about the status of crimes against senior citizens on the 10th of every month and the commissioners or district police chiefs should submit reports to the police headquarters and district magistrates on the 20th of every month.

“It is true that various steps to ensure safety of senior citizens have been prescribed. But the availability of manpower is one major reason that prevents the police from carrying out such proactive steps,” a senior police officer opined.

The elderly population in the state is projected to go up from the present 13.5 per cent to18 per cent of the state’s total population in a decade. Another major problem among the elderly in Kerala is the state of widows who constitute nearly 55 per cent of the total elderly population. With most women spending their old age without spouse support, they face solitude and lack of proper caregivers.