The recent bill passed by the Maharashtra Government stating that neglecting parents will ensure children are punished with fines and or jail, is welcome.
However it throws up many practical issues. I have listed some of them below-
1. If children are staying abroad, how does the government plan to enforce them to look after the parents?
2. If children send money whilst not staying with the parents, will it be deemed as looking after?
3. What happens to the clause that children have to take care of physical/ medical needs? If they are not in a position to stay with us, should it be deemed neglect?
4. If our children do not want to stay with us or drift apart, should we force / compel them to look after us?
5. Also from whatever I have read, I have not figured out if daughters & sons are equally responsible under this act. If yes, what about married daughters who don’t have a source of income? Do son – in – laws come under scope of punishment?
6. Will this Act only address issues of criminal neglect / behavior?
Though it is a sad fact that in old age one has to face many problems including bad health, children moving away from home or no longer wanting to stay in a joint family is a reality of India today. But there are many parts to it. Being a senior citizen and having seen both sides of life, will put down my personal views on this tomorrow.
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