ON SUNDAY, city elders asked the policymakers, “Do you expect us to fend for ourselves alone?” Their worry mixed query was a sequel to the quixotic government order (GO, 3192/6 05-29 (1)/67 CD) that allowed the Veteran Sahayata Samiti to form committees in their localities and assist the cops in ensuring security.
“We welcome the GO but then the order doesn’t say anything about the involvement of cops in the committees. Without police how do our policymakers expect the elderly to take care of the security concerns?” asked Lt Col (retd) Mohan Chandra Papnai, founder president of Veteran Sahayata Samiti during a seminar that was held at the Vishwesaraiyya auditorium of the PWD building on Sunday. Several others, including retired judge, Justice Kamleshwar Nath, retired Army officers besides other senior citizens echoed similar views.
The common concern of the roughly 250 senior citizens present at the seminar was, “in Lucknow there are about 6 lakh elderly people. All are ready to help the police in maintaining security. But, until cops were involved in the process, the senior citizens alone wouldn’t be able to do much.” “The government’s attitude should be of providing rather than seeking help,” Justice Kamleshwar Nath said. Several senior citizens felt that the GO sought senior citizens’ help in night patrol. “We want to sleep peacefully in the night but the GO seeks to use us for night patrol! Can’t our policymakers become more sensitive to our problems?” they asked.
Lt Col Papnai said his Samiti would soon start the process of forming committees in every locality. “The process would start very soon. We would definitely like to take this opportunity to do something for the elderly population in the city. But, we seek proper support,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}Lt Col Papnai said his Samiti would soon start the process of forming committees in every locality. “The process would start very soon. We would definitely like to take this opportunity to do something for the elderly population in the city. But, we seek proper support,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}He suggested the formation of a Veteran Advisory Board to supervise the functioning of the local committees and appointment of cops of the rank of Circle Officer/Station House Officer (SHOs) in it. Deputy controller, Civil Defense, SC Mishra, assured the support of wardens in making the ‘security for senior citizens’ a success. However, after the seminar, several senior citizens appeared skeptical of the government’s support. The DM RN Tripathi and SSP Ashutosh Pandey too had been invited to the workshop.
Both didn’t turn up. We had invited the Governor too but he wrote back to us saying that he had prior commitments to meet. Our SSP and DM appeared to be completely indifferent,” the senior citizens felt.