'Abuse by kin' form 100 daily calls by elderly to city police

Almost half of the over 100 calls of distressed senior citizens received daily by the helpline of Senior Citizen Cell are of issues related to arguments with children or neighbours, Delhi Police data show.

Problems related to wrong parking in front of house or improper disposal of garbage also figure in the problems that the 24,000 registered elderly seek police help on 1291, in addition to law and order issues.

An official of the cell said: “In most cases related to other government agencies, we play the role of communicators and take the message of the elderly to the functionaries concerned.”

Property-related issues and issues concerned with various civic agencies also figure prominently in the complaints that the cell receives on a daily basis.

“We get more than 100 calls daily on our helpline number and two-three cases through post from the senior citizens every day,” said Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) R S Yadav.

In family matters, the cell first sends a PCR van and urges local police to offer help to the distressed elderly people, he added.

The cell was started in 2004 for the safety and security of senior citizens with the help of local police and also for monitoring of registered senior citizens by interacting on telephone and personally on regular basis.

Earlier, only those citizens not living with their children were registered, but since 2012, those citizens who stay alone in the afternoon while their children are out in the office are also encouraged to register themselves in the Senior Citizen Cells helpline, said a police officer.

Around 24,000 senior citizens are registered in the database till now, he added.
According to the officer of the cell, a beat patrolling officer visits all the registered citizens who fall under his area on a weekly basis and interacts with them about their issues. In some of the cases, citizens are in need of counselling, which the senior officers provide over phone, and in some cases, through personal visits.

The cell has a tie-up with NGOs, including Help-Age India, Agewell Foundation and Anugraha. In the case of providing a residential space specifically built for senior citizens at minimum prices, it refers the members to one of these NGOs.

Every district headquarter has a senior citizen cell, where two-three police personnel are deployed for it.