Committee for senior citizens on the anvil

It was a petition filed by Mattathur panchayat Old Age Club secretary T D Sreedharan to the Assembly Committee on Welfare of Senior Citizens which prompted the LSGD to issue the directive.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: With atrocities against senior citizens showing a spike in the state, a dedicated ‘jagratha samithi’ to curb this disturbing trend is on the anvil. The samithi, be formed on the basis of a report by the panchayat director, will function at the panchayat-level across the state.

“Atrocities against the elderly, mainly the violation of freedom and rights, can be addressed to an extent through the samithi which will function in every panchayat,” said a Local Self-Government Department officer.

It was a petition filed by Mattathur panchayat Old Age Club secretary T D Sreedharan to the Assembly Committee on Welfare of Senior Citizens which prompted the LSGD to issue the directive. The jagratha samithi will comprise the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) chairperson, panchayat president, welfare standing committee chairman, grama panchayat secretary, ICDS supervisor, medical officer, local SI, a member of the senior citizen forum and the village officer. At the same time, the constitution of an exclusive commission panel for senior citizens, mulled by the state government, has been put on the backburner as the Centre is planning to make amendments to the Maintenance and Welfare of Senior Citizens Act 2007.