Sense of insecurity emerges as key concern of elderly people during panel’s sitting in Kochi

A sense of insecurity and lack of support system faced by the elderly population emerged as a predominant concern during a sitting held by the Kerala State Elderly Commission (KSEC) at the district collectorate here on Tuesday.

The complaints lodged by senior citizens with the Commission pertained to a variety of issues including alleged neglect of elderly parents by adult children, financial cheating, and trouble from neighbours, officials said.

The Commission received seven complaints during the sitting, five from individuals and two from organisations involved in issues of the elder community.

“A common complaint we receive is about the alleged neglect of parents by children after getting their properties transferred to the latter’s name. Today also there were a couple of such complaints. There were also complaints about troubles from neighbours, including an allegation that improper maintenance of pets in neighbourhood was causing health issues to the complainant,” KSEC Chairperson K. Somaprasad said.

He added that the complainants approached the Commission alleging inaction by the authorities they had approached earlier. One of the complaints was from a retired government employee who had accused a non-banking financial company based in Aluva of cheating him of ₹85 lakh by promising higher returns on investment. The complainant knocked on the Commission’s door alleging that the local police were not keen to investigate the complaint.

A similar complaint alleged that a lender was not returning a 1.25-acre property mortgaged by an elderly person despite repaying the private loan.

Mr. Somaprasad said the Commission would seek report from the departments or agencies concerned on the complaints and summon the parties involved for hearing accordingly. Though two complaints received earlier were scheduled to be heard on Tuesday, neither of the opposing parties in one case turned up. Only the complainant appeared before the panel in the second case.

The Commission is scheduled to conduct similar hearing in other districts in the coming days. It has received around 300 complaints from across the State in the past nine months and nearly 50 of them have been disposed of.