The State government will enact a legislation to ensure the safety of girls, Home Minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan has said.
The Minister was launching the Care, Aid and Relief for Elders (CARE) project of the police for senior citizens at a State-level function at Thiruvalla on Monday.
The government would launch another programme wherein people would get police assistance at their doorstep by effectively tapping the modern technology, he said.
CARE was aimed at taking care of senior citizens who were increasingly becoming targets of criminal elements. Senior citizens could register their names at the local police station. A peaceful environment was necessary for progress, the Minister said.
The Janamaitri Policing scheme, the Student Police Cadet, and the CARE project were all part of the government’s initiatives to make the police people-friendly, he said.
Presiding over the function, Mathew T. Thomas, MLA, lauded the initiatives of the government and the police in launching the CARE project.
The CARE project could be seen as an extension of the Janamaitri scheme, he said.
Delivering the introductory speech, State Police Chief Jacob Punnoose said surveys showed that not less than 35 per cent of the State’s population worked outside, leaving their parents alone at their homes in Kerala.
Records available with the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) showed that the suicide rate of people above 60 years of age in the State was the highest in the country and four to five times higher than the national average. The State had witnessed several instances of murder of senior citizens who stayed alone at their homes.
Mr. Punnose said the police would collect details of senior citizens residing alone at their homes under all police station limits and would contact them, at least, on a weekly basis.
The Union government had allotted Rs.10 crore for the implementation of the project, he added.
Philipose Mar Chrysostum, senior Metropolitan of the Mar Thoma Church; Thomas Mar Coorilos, Metropolitan Archbishop of Thiruvalla; Akeeramon Kalidasa Bhattathiri, Yogakshema Sabha president; and Mohammed Nadheer Maulavi, Islam religious scholar; delivered benedictory speeches.
Raju Abraham, MLA; S. Gopinathan, Inspector-General of Police; P. Venugopal, District Collector; and P.D. Unni, Kerala Police Association president; also addressed the function.
