NALGONDA: The number of elderly parents turning to the Nalgonda district collector’s office, pleading for the cancellation of property registrations made in their children’s names and seeking to reclaim their assets is increasing, a pointer to the rot setting in.
Most of the petitioners have a common complaint — that their own children have abandoned them or failed to provide proper care.
Most of the complainants cite issues such as children failing to provide financial support, wrongful registration of property, forcible eviction from family homes and general neglect. Until recently, these disputes were typically resolved at the RDO Tribunal stage while some appeals reached the collector.
One of the most telling cases involved R Venkatamma (75) of Miryalaguda. A widow with three daughters and one son, she had divided her six-acre property, an acre each to her daughters and three to her son. Following her son’s death last year, Venkatamma alleged that her daughter-in-law refused to support or care for her.
She petitioned for the return of one acre of land from the portion given to her son, as well as Rs 5 lakh from her daughter-in-law towards her medical expenses, which had already cost Rs 20 lakh. Of this Rs 20 lakh, her daughters had contributed Rs 5 lakh each. The collector ruled in Venkatamma’s favour, ordering the return of one acre to secure her sustenance.
In another unprecedented instance under the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007, the Adavidevulapally police station registered an FIR against four sons and one daughter from Bellampalli village for allegedly neglecting their 92-year-old mother, P Chandramma.
After transferring 24 acres of land to her children, Chandramma found herself abandoned. The collector directed not only that an FIR be filed but also that each child take turns caring for their mother for a month at a time.
One elderly resident told TNIE that since Ila Tripathi took charge as collector, the law is being put to real use to protect abandoned parents. Narsamma, another senior citizen from Miryalaguda mandal, spoke of the heartbreak involved in reclaiming land given to her children. “It’s painful. It’s a necessity, not a choice, so that I survive,” she said.
Surge in plaints from elderly after SC order
The number of cases has surged since a widely circulated Supreme Court judgment last year reminded the public that if children fail to maintain their parents, the transfer of assets to them can be legally reversed. This verdict reasserted the rights of parents under Section 23 of the Act, allowing for property to be reclaimed in instances of neglect.
Since this ruling, the collector’s office has been flooded with fresh petitions, many from elderly people left to fend for themselves after transferring land or property to their children in good faith.
In Nalgonda district alone, 182 such cases have been formally registered.
District Field Response Officer for Senior Citizens, M Nagireddy, has been tasked with counselling both parents and their children to find amicable resolutions. In 24 cases where the children flatly refused to take responsibility for their parents’ welfare, Collector Ila Tripathi issued orders cancelling the registrations and restoring the assets to the elderly complainants. In the remaining cases, children agreed to resume the care of their parents, according to Nagireddy.
Cases unresolved through counselling are being forwarded to the RDO Tribunal.
Apart from property disputes, Nagireddy’s office has dealt with 389 additional complaints concerning the rights and welfare of senior citizens; 302 of these have been settled, while the rest have moved to the tribunal stage. Nagireddy explained that each case involves issuing notices and holding multiple hearings to ensure fairness.
The Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007, and its accompanying Rules, 2011, govern such disputes. Under these provisions, the RDO supervises the resolution of complaints, with each of Nalgonda’s four revenue divisions, Nalgonda, Suryapet, Chandur and Devarakonda, operating its own Revenue Divisional Tribunal.
To address these matters, the RDO holds a weekly tribunal, usually in the presence of a committee comprising the president of the Senior Citizens Association, the District Senior Citizens Welfare Officer, a police officer of ASI rank and a legal representative. In the Nalgonda division, these cases are heard every Tuesday.
Delays and torment
Yet, all is not smooth in the process meant to protect the district’s elderly. The RDO Tribunal, scheduled to meet weekly to hear such cases, is plagued by the chronic absence of key committee members: the Senior Citizens Welfare Officer, the ASI-ranked police officer and the appointed legal representative.
This absenteeism is causing troubling delays, prolonging the anguish of elderly complainants who have already endured neglect at the hands of their own families. One distressed parent from Nalgonda lamented that after suffering in their own home, they are now forced to suffer delays in the halls of justice.
Many of these elderly citizens, with nowhere else to turn, quietly express the hope that the consistent presence of revenue, police, and legal officials might speed up the hearing process and allow them, at last, the chance to live out their final days in dignity and peace.