With several incidents of murder of senior citizens reported in the city in recent times, Kolkata police aims to broadbase the 'Project Pranam' initiative to bring more elderly people under its safety cover.
"We have taken several steps to ensure the safety and security of senior citizens in the city. In all the police stations we have taken extra measures to ensure their security," a senior Kolkata police official told PTI.
"Every police station has a designated officer with constables under him to keep in touch with elderly citizens in the police station," Additional Police Commissioner (II) Jayanta Basu told PTI.
The officer said 'Project Pranam' had been started by the Kolkata Police in 2009 to provide safety, security and medical assistance to senior citizens living alone. "The project has been successful in these years but it is evolving every day with new experiences to ensure better services for the elderly," he said.
Nearly 30 per cent of the city's senior citizens stay by themselves with large section of this population facing serious concerns related to safety, security, health problems, according to reports available with the project authorities.
Project Coordinator Shukla Tarafdar said after the project took off in 2009 around 12,500 elderly citizens have become members of Pranam.
When asked why only 12,500 elders have registered under the project, when the number of such elderly couples is quite high, Tarafdar, a retired police official herself said, "Pranam has received good response. Yet, there are many lonely elders who find it difficult to reach police stations or our camps when they are held."
"So we have already decided that those who can't approach us physically can just call up and drop their address. Our officers will visit them," she said.
