KOCHI: As senior living homes mushroom in Kerala, the Department of Social Justice is planning to set up a separate board for the registration and regulation of such paid facilities. The department has convened a meeting of the representatives of the Senior Living Association of Kerala next month to prepare the ground to lay the regulatory basics for this nascent sector. A registry will be set up in the first phase.
Currently, paid senior care homes in the state are registered under the Orphanage Control Board of the Department of Social Justice, established for the supervision and control of institutions meant for the care, protection and welfare of neglected women, children and the elderly.
“Discussions are on with the association on the establishment of a separate registry for the retirement living homes in the state. We don’t have the exact number of paid senior living homes in Kerala. Once the registry is constituted, we will get clarity,” said a top official with the Department of Social Justice.
The demand for a separate board for paid senior homes was raised by SLAK, an association of senior living homes in the state. “These private care homes require a separate board for registration. Senior living homes cannot be considered similar to old age homes as the residents there are not orphans,” said an official with SLAK.
In March 2019, the Union government issued model guidelines for the development and regulation of retirement homes. The model rules were aimed at dealing with the special needs, and protecting the rights, of senior citizens and retirees living in these homes who “aspire to spend their retired life independently in a safe, secure and dignified environment”.
People can choose to stay for a fee, in the range of `25 to 60 lakh in these retirement homes, where the money is partially refundable, while some facilities charge the inmates on a monthly basis. “Thus, the facility cannot be brought under the Orphanage Control Board,” the official said.
Retirement living homes need a separate body for registration to ensure minimum standards and grievance redressal, according to B R Brahmaputhran, the CEO of Alive, Thiruvananthapuram.
“Currently, we don’t have a board. The system needs to evolve and the government should take the measures necessary. The senior citizens who choose to stay at a retirement home cannot be addressed as orphans,” he said.
The demand becomes relevant as Kerala is ageing faster than the rest of the country. As per a 2021 estimate, people above 60 years of age constitute about 16.5% of the state’s population, and the proportion is expected to cross 20% by 2031, triggering a spurt in the number of retirement homes.
In the last two years, 62 new senior care homes – including charitable homes and paid retirement homes – have been registered under the Orphanage Control Board. However, the state does not have data on the exact number of paid retirement homes established over the years, though the number is growing.