Gurgaon will soon have a police station-wise record of all the senior citizens living in their jurisdiction, as directed by the District Legal Services Authority (DLSA).
The authority wants the police to build a database that would help it spread awareness about programmes for senior citizens.
According to DLSA members, a large number of senior citizens are living alone in the city, as their children are living abroad.
“We want to create a data bank so that we have the exact number of senior citizens living in the city. We want to engage them in different activities, so that they do not feel lonely or isolated. We are also planning to organise state-level events for them and will ensure their participation according to their talent and interest,” chief judicial magistrate and secretary of DLSA, Narender Singh, said.
“In several cases, it was observed that senior citizens often face health issues and get no support from their children. Hence, they go into depression. Many of them are living alone and are isolated,” Singh said.
At present, there's no data available, Singh said. Which is why, the directive to the city police.
Once the data is collected from each district, the DLSA will organise activities and programmes such as sports day, music talent hunt, cultural activities and art and culture competitions.
But, the city police, already groaning under severe staff shortage, could find the task a tough one.
“We have planned to engage para-legal volunteers to visit societies to collect data and submit the same to the concerned police station.
The Gurgaon police had launched a round-the-clock senior citizen helpline — 0124 – 2221559 — in 2013, and it is operated from the police commissioner’s office complex. The helpline was set up after police received several complaints of elders harassed by children over property disputes. At present, there's a senior citizen cell.
“Complaints from the elderly are attended to on priority, and the investigation is monitored by the senior officers,” Ravinder Kumar, PRO, Gurgaon police, said.
