Six rights for the elderly: the Senior Citizens Bill now before the Kerala Legislative Assembly

Background

The Kerala Legislative Assembly is in session and among the business before it is the Senior Citizens Bill, which Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan's government has placed before the House. The Bill guarantees a set of six rights to elderly people in the State and brings paid elderly care services under regulation, a step the State says is the first of its kind in India. It is the State's own law alongside the central Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007. Kerala has the highest share of elderly people among Indian States, which is the reason the Government gives for a statutory guarantee of care rather than a welfare scheme alone.