Goa govt plans law to safeguard senior citizens rights

Goa government is contemplating to move a legislation to safeguard rights of senior citizens in public places by making it mandatory for people to respect and abide by the rules made for the elderly.
The state government has also expressed the possibility of providing financial help to the NGOs working with the senior citizens, if they want to take care of the aged with psychological issues.
"There are several rules which are made to make life of senior citizens easy. There are seats reserved in public transport (buses). But many a times people don't respect these rules," Social Welfare Department Minister Pandurang Madkaikar said addressing a function to mark Senior Citizens Day here.

He said the state government is thinking of moving a legislation making it an offence, if rules related to senior citizens are not respected.
"When there will be a fear of getting booked or punished, automatically people will start abiding by these rules," the minister said.
Madkaikar said Social Welfare Department has already issued a circular to all the departments ordering them to give priority to senior citizens in the queue or other works.

"You need not stand in a queue to get ticket of Kadamba bus (state run public transport service) or when you go to any department you can jump the queue and get to the window," he said.

During the event, the minister circulated copies of circular to the senior citizens asking them to show it to those government officers who don't give priority to them.
Responding to a worry expressed by a senior citizen about the aged person who has psychological issue, Madkaikar said NGOs working in the field can be helped financially by the state government to take care of such people.
"We can involve the NGOs in such activity as no one is ready to take care of the aged person if he has psychological issues," the minister added.