Healthy ageing not only indicates the health status of the elderly, but is also a sign of maturity of the society they live in.
It turned out to be the buzzword at the 14th international conference of Geriatrics Society of India (GSICON 2017) on ‘Geriatric care and Gerontology,’ conducted in association with Sri Venkateswara Medical College and SVMC Alumni Association on Monday. The conference tagline ‘Caring the elderly... Time to act’ conveyed that the objective was to ensure a paradigm shift towards caring for the senior citizens, considered to be the most neglected section of society.
Chief Justice of High Court of Hyderabad Justice Ramesh Ranganathan explained the various legal provisions available to the elderly and the care required to be given by children and other dependants. Care of the elderly is no longer a prerogative of the wards after the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act 2007 came into force. He explained that such errant children could be summoned, pulled up by a first class magistrate and even ordered a monthly allowance to be paid, besides sentencing them to prison.
Indicating that the legal system had ensured that the elderly were not meted out raw deal, he urged the old and the ageing members of the audience to help make the lives of the elderly better.
Along with GSI president M.S. Sridhar and general secretary O.P. Sharma, Justice Ramesh Ranganathan honoured famed personalities who stood as a symbol of healthy ageing, such as freedom fighter C.R. Rajan, former A.P. Assembly Speaker Agarala Eswara Reddy, psychology professor P.V. Ramamurthi, industrialist Paimagham Sugunakar Reddy, paediatrician Ratna Malika, medical professional Srihari Reddy, littérateur Mudivarthi Kondamacharyulu and medical practitioner K. Raja Reddy (both in absentia).
