Elders to man desks at Madurai police stations

Pramila Krishnan

Chennai, Oct 2: On World Elders Day, senior citizens of Madurai received a bonanza from the district police chief. In a first of kind initiative, all the 44 police stations in Madurai will have an exclusive elder as an in-charge person to lend an ear to complaints from senior citizens and to guide them to get justice.


Introducing the ‘elder representative in police station’ initiative along with Helpage India, voluntary organisation, on Tuesday, SP V. Balakrishnan said networking active elders with police stations would help the vulnerable elders. The SP told DC that he introduced this initiative “to help, to serve many fathers and mothers.”

He said, “Scores of elders visit me during the weekly grievance day meet. If the elder is ill-treated by his son or daughter, we arrange a meeting with them and help resolve the issue. In case of serious abuse, we take strict action.” 

“Many elders do not want to complaint about their children and continue to suffer. Now, we have connected elders with police stations. Affected elders can approach the elders’ representative in person and personally share their problems. We will sensitise the elder representative about what action can be taken by the police to
protect  vulnerable elders,” he said.

He added that this initiative would bridge the police and the elderly community. “Our men would also pay a little more attention to the complainants who are in the evening of their lives and would need immediate relief. The elder representative would be a person well informed about elders rights and implementation of the 
‘Maintenance of parents and senior citizens Act, 2007,” he said.

Thanking the SP for the initiative, elder representative C. Sundararaman (71), said, “I will be available in Nagamalai Pudukottai station. I am very much clear about senior citizens Act and ready to reach out to the affected elders."