Draft Old Age Bill ready for Cabinet

The ministry of social justice and empowerment has drafted a revolutionary bill, the Protection of Old Age Bill, which seeks to extend a social security blanket to the aged and make children legally responsible for the upkeep of dependent parents.

Top ministry sources said the draft Bill was likely to be placed before the Cabinet next month and has several unprecedented provisions.

"One of the most important provisions is that of family tribunals in each district which will look into cases of children having been negligent of elderly parents. Security of parents will be the legal responsibility of the children," said a top ministry official.

"The Bill has a provision under which children are to pay an allowance to dependent parents, failing which they can be hauled to court or these tribunals," said an official.

"Property rights transferred to children can be reverted back to the parents if it is proven that the children are being negligent. That is, if the son in the family has been handed over the family residence, the parents have the right to get it back for the period of their lifetime," said the official.

The need for such a Bill was felt with reports of more and more cases of abandonment of the elderly and crime against them.

"Everyday we see cases of old couples living alone being murdered, we see cases of once prosperous people living in destitution because their children in whom they have invested so much do not bother to take care of their parents," said the official.

"The Lok Sabha has cleared the Child Protection Bill, the next step would be the Old Age Bill to complete the circle," he said.

"Apart from the legal aspects of the Bill, it has several welfare aspects regarding the state's responsibility towards the elderly," said the official.

These included a geriatric ward, specialising in old age diseases and in caring for the old, to be opened in every government hospital, he said, adding that an old age home was also to be opened in every district in the country.

"It is a Bill with a sweeping scope and seeks to be another step in increasing the social security net for the old and the infirm by making their care legally enforceable", said the official.