‘Adopt a parent’ scheme to take off from Pune

Times of India: Maya, a septuagenarian, and her 84-year-old sister live in a two-room flat in the city. Her husband, who passed away recently, left them a small sum. Maya has two sons and a daughter, but they are too busy to look after an ageing mother and a dependent aunt.

Maya’s case is a reflection of today’s times. Situations such as these made Kumar Deshpande, founder of the Mumbai-based Kumar Deshpande Foundation and the Companion Club of India, think of an ‘adopt a parent/grandparent ‘ scheme.

Deshpande is gathering a database of people interested in the scheme which will be launched in Pune in August.

The Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens’ Act, 2007 seeks to make it a legal obligation for children and heirs to provide maintenance to senior citizens. But most senior citizens who are denied their rights do not take legal recourse.

According to the Act, senior citizens unable to maintain themselves have the right to apply to a maintenance tribunal seeking a monthly allowance from their children or heirs. The tribunal can impose a fine of Rs 5,000 on erring persons or up to three months imprisonment or both.

Typically, Maya is not aware of the law. “What is the point in fighting your own children? If they no longer want you, why impose on them?” she says.

It is in such cases that Deshpande’s initiative holds promise. “Sometime ago, a couple in utter desperation contacted me. Around the same time, a lady at one of my workshops wanted to adopt a ‘mother’. All this got me thinking, and I decided to launch the scheme.”

He had to gather a database of senior citizens willing to be ‘adopted’, and people willing to give them a home and a family. “Before such a step, we need to make sure that people wanting to adopt a senior citizen are doing so out of love and not because they want a household help. There are legalities to be looked into before we launch the initiative.”

Harish Patel’s (72) wife passed away four years ago. “I reverse mortgaged my house and though I don’t have children, I don’t want to depend on anyone. I employ two full-time trustworthy persons to look after me. It is a lonely life,” he said.

Patel said Deshpande’s scheme may give people like him a lease of life. “But it needs to be done with care. Senior citizens should not end up getting a raw deal,” he added.

Also see: