The Bihar Government has approved a proposal that will mean that wards who abandon their elderly parents will face a jail term. The proposal submitted by the Bihar Social Welfare Department allows elderly parents to lodge complaints on their children for abandonment. The offence will be registered under the non-bailable section.

Statistics show the need for such measures. An Agewell Foundation study of 5000 elderly individuals in India found that 65.2% of respondents faced neglect, 54.1% suffered abuse in the hands of their own families or society and 25.3% faced exploitation. Such mistreatment was reported to be due to financial and emotional factors. India has been moving away from the collectivistic society catching on to individualistic values, and this is leading to the breakdown of the traditional family system. Reducing the costs of care for the elderly and providing incentives to family members are other ways to approach the issue.

This is the first step that will hopefully go a long way in preventing abandonment and possibly other forms of abuse of the elderly while also ensuring their proper care.