Supreme Court seeks information on schemes for the elderly, asked to report on the maintenance of parents

The Supreme Court has directed the states and union territories to furnish information on welfare schemes related to the elderly. Under this, information has been sought regarding pension to the elderly, old age homes in each district and the level of care in old age.

A bench of Justices Aniruddha Bose and Sudhanshu Dhulia also asked the states to mention in their report the present situation with respect to the implementation of the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act. "We direct that the schemes for the welfare of the elderly in respect of pension for the elderly, old age homes in each district and the level of old age care should be placed before us," the bench said.

The court said, the concerned states and union territories will submit the information of their existing schemes on these three key points to the advocate-on-record of the Government of India. After collecting the information from all the concerned states and union territories in two months, the central government will submit the revised status report within one month.

The Supreme Court will now hear the matter in January 2023. The apex court was hearing a plea by former Union Law Minister Ashwini Kumar to set up old age homes with basic health facilities across the country. They have also demanded effective implementation of the Care and Welfare of Parents and Elderly Act, 2007.