Chandigarh Senior Citizens’ Association (CSCA) and HelpAge India, Chandigarh jointly organized a seminar at Government Museum and Art Gallery, Sector 10 to mark World Elder Abuse Awareness Day (WEAAD).
Justice Vijender Jain, Chairperson Haryana State Human Rights Commission & Chairperson Uttarakhand State Human Rights Commission was the Chief Guest and delivered the key note address.
A novel and gripping start was made to the Seminar by a short skit scripted and directed by Ms Vinod Virmani on types of Elders’ Abuse.
Justice Jain, in his key note address spoke of the cases of elder abuse he had come across in his long experience on the bench and later. He lauded the Association for its efforts to make society conscious towards their duties to senior citizens.
Other panelists included:
- Sh. Bhavneshwar Sharma, State Head HelpAge India, who gave statistical information on incidence of Elder Abuse based on a recent survey.
- Prof. Raj Mohini Sethi, former HOD, Deptt. of Sociology PU, who gave three case histories of Elder Abuse.
- Wg Comdr Bharadwaj spoken on need attitudinal adjustments by older persons.
- DSP Satish Kumar elaborated on the innovative programmes launched by Chandigarh Police to make senior citizens feel safe in the UT. He spoke about the revamped beat system and instructions to SHOs and other senior officers to hold frequent meetings with senior citizens. He advised them to use the dedicated Helpline 1090 whenever and whatever the emergency.
President of the Association, Sh Daljit Singh Grewal welcomed the panelists and summed up the deliberations. Talking to media, he said that this was the third successive year that the Day was being observed by the Association. He thanked print and broadcast journalists for highlighting cases of abuse as that alone can sensitize society.
The programme was conducted by Brig. Keshav Chandra, Immediate Past President of CSCA.