AAP govt to set up panel to look into welfare of senior citizens

The AAP government will soon set up 'Delhi Commission for Senior Citizens' to look into the welfare and safety-related issues of the city's elderly people, an official said.

A 13-member committee, formed by the Delhi government, has submitted its report on setting up of a commission for the elderly people residing in the national capital, to the social welfare department of the Delhi government.

A senior official said the report is currently pending with the law department for vetting.

Delhi has around 12 lakh elderly people (60 years and above). The 2011 Census puts the population of elderly people at 6.8 per cent of the total population in the national capital.

According to the report, the proposed body will investigate and examine all matters relating to safeguards provided for senior citizens under the Constitution and laws and recommend measures for their effective implementation.

It will look into matters involving senior citizens in need of special care and protection. It will include the elderly who are facing disability, destitution, maltreatment, abandonment, violence, torture, riots, among others.

"The commission will also review the existing provisions from time to time and recommend amendments so as to suggest remedial legislative measures to meet any lacunae, inadequacies or shortcomings in such legislation," the official, who did not wish to be named, said.

The official said the commission will also look into complaints and take suo motu notice of matters relating to deprivation of rights of senior citizens.

"Once the law department gives its nod, it will be tabled in the Delhi Cabinet for its approval," he said, adding that the Commission will have chairman and around four members.