Delhi Police commissioner Y S Dadwal has proposed a “proactive drive” to ensure the security of senior citizens in the city.

Dadwal said an officer of the rank of Inspector will be appointed as a “nodal officer” in all 130 police stations across Delhi. The officer will be responsible for conducting the “security audit” of each of the 85,000 senior citizens — as per Delhi Police senior citizen cell records — living alone in the city.

“The nodal officer will visit the houses of senior citizens and audit security arrangements with their cooperation. The officer will ensure that all senior citizens have the minimum required security arrangements, like door chains, iron grills and ‘magic eyes’ on their doors,” Commissioner Dadwal said at a press conference.

The drive will also ensure that domestic help living with senior citizens have been verified. Noting the recent instances of property agents targeting senior citizens, Dadwal said the necessary protection required in such instances would also be the nodal officer’s responsibility.

The announcement of the Delhi Police’s senior citizen drive follows a survey conducted by HelpAge, an NGO, recently that threw up some shocking figures on crime against senior citizens. 42.2 per cent of crime against senior citizens involved hurt, followed by 35.5 per cent involving murder and 13.3 per cent involving robbery.

“We will take the drive through till the end so that they can develop a sense of security. This will help us in preventing any untoward incident from occurring,” Dadwal said.

... contd.