Government planning new legislation soon for benefit of senior citizens

NEW DELHI: Senior citizens in the country would soon have access to more legal protection as the government is planning to introduce new legislation "to ensure that elderly people remain happy and healthy", Union Minister Thaawar Chand Gehlot said today.

"We are planning to come out with legal provisions to ensure that the elderly people remain happy and healthy. We will come out with the measures by March, 2015. There should be a speedy and simple justice system for them and we are working to make that available," Gehlot, the Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment, told reporters here.

The minister was briefing reporters on the sidelines of an event here in connection with the International Day for Older Persons.

Pointing at the several legal provisions available for the welfare of senior citizens, Gehlot said that measures also exist for the prosecution of those offspring who do not take care of their elderly parents.

Earlier, addressing the gathering on the occasion, Gehlot stressed on the need for children to take care of their parents.

Sudhir Bhargava, Secretary in the Social Justice and Empowerment Ministry, underlined the need to have professional caregivers in the country as the number of people above 80 years of age was on the rise in India.

"We need to have caregivers who are committed, skilled and compassionate and take care of people above the age of 80 years. If you see the growth of population, especially of those above 80 years, that is among the highest," Bhargava said.