The law Kerala's elderly care Bill builds on: maintenance tribunals and a ceiling of Rs 10,000 a month

Background

The Keralam Senior Citizens' (Care and Protection of Rights) Bill, 2026 has been introduced in the second session of the Sixteenth Kerala Legislative Assembly, and it is built on top of a central statute every aspirant should know.
The Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007 was enacted to provide financial security, welfare and protection for senior citizens.
It requires children to provide maintenance for their parents, and the government to provide old age homes and ensure medical care for senior citizens.
It sets up Administrative Tribunals and Appellate Tribunals to ensure maintenance, and those Maintenance Tribunals are presided over by administrative officers.
Under the Act, Maintenance Tribunals may direct children to pay a maximum of Rs 10,000 per month as maintenance to their parents, and children and relatives must pay the amount within 30 days of the order of the Tribunal.
Under the Act, children refers to children and grandchildren excluding minors, parents include biological, adoptive and step-parents, and maintenance includes food, clothing, residence, medical attendance and treatment.
An amending Bill introduced in Lok Sabha on Dec 11, 2019 by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment proposed to remove the upper limit on the maintenance amount, to bring step-children, adoptive children, children-in-law and legal guardians of minor children within the definition of children, and to regulate private care-homes and home-care services.
As per the 2011 Census, citizens over the age of 60 years comprise 8.6% of India's population, and their share is projected to grow to 21% by 2050 - the demographic fact on which all this legislation rests.