NEW DELHI, Nov 6:
Aiming to sensitise school children towards the elderly, Social Justice and Empowerment Ministry will write to the HRD Ministry to include moral and value- based education in elementary school curriculum.
“I will certainly take it up with my colleague (in HRD Ministry), because I feel the sensitisation has to start from the beginning for any citizen. When we are children, that is the time when we should learn these values,” Union Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Kumari Selja told PTI here.
She was replying to a question whether her Ministry is exploring the possibility of including moral and value-based education in elementary schools for making children sensitive towards senior citizens.
Inaugurating the first two-day ‘National Conference on Ageing’ here, Selja stressed on providing “care and protection” for the elderly so that they “be looked upon as partners in progress rather than as a burden on the society.”
Highlighting the steps taken by the government for senior citizens, the Minister underlined the need to improve upon the existing National Policy on Older Persons (NPOP) which was announced in 1999.
“More than twelve years have elapsed since the announcement of NPOP. Keeping in view changing demographics, socio-economic pattern and technological advances, the government is considering a revision of this policy,” she said.
A draft of the new policy has been prepared and is under discussion among stakeholders to ensure the widest possible consultation, she said.
Selja also asked the representatives of various state governments to ensure that laws such as Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act are duly implemented there.
“This Act has to be brought into force by individual state governments…However, the level of implementation of the Act by states and Union Territories does not seem to be either uniform or satisfactory,” she said.
One possible reason for this could be lack of adequate awareness about provisions of the Act amongst civil society in general, and the state government functionaries in particular, the Minister said.
She asked both governments and civil societies to take a pro-active role in disseminating information about various provisions of the Act to raise awareness.
Social Justice Ministry is the nodal authority responsible for framing policies and rules for empowering senior citizens and elderly people.
The conference will also take stock of social, financial and health issues faced by senior citizens and the status of implementation of various laws in this regard. (PTI)
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