Are the elderly safe in City?

Are the elderly safe in City?
DH News Service, Bangalore:


The double murder of the elderly couple in Jayanagar has brought into question the awareness on self preservation and the efficiency of our city police in preventing crime, among the elderly.

The Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), Ramesh Chandra, speaking to the Deccan Herald said that there have been routine beats carried out in areas where the elderly have been living. “We have time and again asked the elderly people to carry out background checks on their maids and servants apart from being vigilant on answering doorbell and entertaining unknown people,” he lamented on the lack of awareness among the people.

While commenting on the murder of Rangans, the ACP said that since the couple were frequented by their family and were in regular touch with their children, the vigilance around their house was not required.
Prem Kumar Raja, Secretary of Nightingale Trust, that works with the elderly informed that after every such incident the police would call for a meeting with organisations that work for the elderly but no concrete action is taken.

The Nightingale Trust has been running an elderly helpline in collaboration with the Bangalore Police Force and the BSNL, since 2002. With four staff and three counsellors, it has been trying to help the elders on various issues.

Apathy of police

However, the police who were to provide three constables for the functioning of the helpline, in case of emergency, have cut it down to one. In addition to the crime the apathy of the police is a cause of concern.

“Based on a survey carried out earlier, it has been found that the awareness among the elders has been very low on security,” said Raja. He found that the elders were not careful in installing some basic modern-day gadgets like door cameras.

“They even fail to do a background check on their servants,” Raja added.

Area Suraksha Sabha

As the security situation seems to be stretched in the city, organisations like Janaagraha have also provided suggestions of setting up Civil Defence Organisations for the Bangalore population. Speaking on the co-ordination of the volunteers with the Department of Home Guards for Disaster Management, Cheryl D’Souza says that the city needs atleast 20,000 volunteers to complement the police force.

“We need to support the efforts of the police force and generate awareness among the people on security,” says Cheryl D’Souza.

The Area Suraksha Mitra, which is being created for collecting intelligence and keeping a vigil in their respective localities, is to be set up on the basis of polling booths. “With each polling booth consisting of at least three areas, the areas are better secured,” she informed.

With each team for an area, under the Area Suraksha Mitra, to consist of 122 volunteers it might provide the much needed buffer for the police to function more efficiently and to keep the city and its people safe.