Maintenance and welfare of parents and senior citizens act, 2007

The old age is a major social challenge in new age when the system of joint family is declining. A large number of old and elderly people, particularly widowed women are not being looked after by their families. The twilight years of senior citizen and parents are exposed to emotional neglect and to lack of physical and financial support. The situation in the Society now-a-days reveals that ageing has become a major social challenge and there is a need to give more attention to the care and protection for the older persons. The parents can claim maintenance under the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 but this procedure is time consuming as well as expensive. Therefore, there is a need to have simple, inexpensive and speedy provisions to claim maintenance for parents.

The Statement of Objects and Reasons provided in the Bill to enact the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007 states to achieve the following objectives:

Traditional norms and values of the Indian Society laid stress on providing care for the elderly people. However, due to withering of the joint family system, a large number of elderly people are not being looked after by their families. Consequently, many older persons, particularly widowed women are now forced to spend their twilight years all alone and are exposed to emotional neglect and to lack of physical and financial support. This clearly reveals that ageing has become a major social challenge and there is a need to give more attention to the care and protection for the older persons. Though the parents can claim maintenance under the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, the procedure is both time consuming as well as expensive. Hence, there is a need to have simple, inexpensive and speedy provisions to claim maintenance for parents.

The Bill proposes to cast an obligation on the persons who inherit the property of

their aged relatives to maintain such aged relatives and also proposes to make provisions for setting up oldage homes for providing maintenance to the indigent older persons. The Bill further proposes to provide better medical facilities to the senior citizens

and provisions for protection of their life and property. The Bill, therefore, proposes to provide for

(a) appropriate mechanism to be set-up to provide need-based maintenance to the parents and senior citizens; (b) providing better medical facilities to senior citizens;

(c) for institutionalisation of a suitable mechanism for protection of life and property of older persons; (d) setting-up of oldage homes in every district.

The Bill seeks to achieve the above objectives.

The abovesaid Bill was passed by the Lok Sabha on 5th December, 2007 and by the Rajya For achieving the objectives of the Bill, it (the Bill) was introduced in the Parliament Sabha on 6th December, 2007. After receiving the assent of the President of India, the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007 became law of the land. This booklet reproducing the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007 (56 of 2007), with short comments, would serve the purpose of having an overall view of the subject in issue. A creative feedback from the learned readers, bringing to our notice any mistake,

error or omission or discrepancy that might have crept in this book in spite of our sincere efforts to avoid those, is most welcome, for it will help us to improve the overall quality. style and presentation of the book in the forthcoming editions.