Even as the Vadodara police have made an effort to gather data about senior citizens in the city, the latter have said that only 20 to 25 per cent of the aged population has been covered under the survey.

Nevertheless, the move is likely to act as a safeguard against abandonment of the elderly by the families, or theft attempts by miscreants who often prey on the aged.

Gorwa Inspector D L Zala said meetings with the elderly are held in the police stations every month where they are asked to fill up forms specifying details about their sons and daughters, whether they are staying with them or not, and whether they have someone to look after them.

He said they also ask the aged whether they are facing any threat from their wards.

“We also check the vulnerability aspect of these senior citizens, who are mostly alone at home, given their children are out for work the entire day,” Zala said, adding that most of the middle class families with elderly persons at home have issues of abandonment.

Meanwhile, S D Kwatra, the Secretary for Age Care Federation, a network organisation for senior citizens, said that although the initiative is novel, only two or three police stations have been able to reach out to the elderly in the city.

“Only 20-25 per cent of the elderly in the city are covered under the scheme. Of the 52 committees for senior citizens, only a handful have been given these forms. This shows that while senior officers are launching a novel scheme, but at the ground level, the policemen are not bothered about such issues,” added Kwatra, a resident of Pratapgunj.

... contd.