 bill no 129 of  2018 the maintenance and welfare of parents and senior citizens (amendment) bill, 2018 by shri bhartruhari mahtab, mp a bill to amend the maintenance and welfare of parents and senior citizens act, 2007be it enacted by parliament in the sixty-ninth year of the republic of  india as follows:—1 (1) this act may be called the maintenance and welfare of parents and seniorcitizens (amendment)  act, 2018short title, and commencement(2) it shall come into force on such date as the central government may, by notificationfollowing chapter and sections there under shall be inserted, namely:—new chapter va "chapter va protection of senior citizens from loneliness23a (1) every state government shall prepare and maintain a confidential districtwise digital database of senior citizens living alonedatabase of senior citizens living alone5(2) any unauthorised access to the database of senior citizens living alone or attempt thereof shall be an offence punishable with a fine which may extend upto one lakh rupees or with simple imprisonment for a term which may extend upto six months or both23b (1) the state government shall establish sufficient number of senior citizen centers in each district10(2) the senior citizen centers established under sub-section (1) shall provide interactional, recreational and such other facilities to senior citizens as may be prescribedinteractional and recreational facilities for senior citizen living alone(3) where oldage homes have been established under section 19 of this act, the facilities under sub-section (2) may be provided at such oldage homes1523c the state government shall depute officials or volunteers who shall regularly visit senior citizens living alone and perform the following functions, namely:—regular visits to senior citizens living alone(a) organising social interaction activities for such senior citizens; (b) updating the database of senior citizens living alone; (c) aiding the local police administration in providing adequate security to such senior citizens2023d (1) all establishments shall provide counselling to their retiring employees regarding post-retirement life and the need for social interaction(2) the appropriate government shall provide counseling regarding elderly life and need for social interaction to all individuals, except those covered under sub-section (1), approaching the age of sixty years''counseling of retiring individuals and individuals approaching sixty years of age statement of objects  and reasonsindia has a sizeable population of senior citizens therefore, the legislative bodies have been mindful of the needs of senior citizens the parliament enacted the maintenance and welfare of parents and senior citizens act in the year 2007 which has proved to be a landmark enactment to serve the interests of senior citizens while the need to meet physical requirements of senior citizens is addressed, a major problem that afflicts them and often goes unattended is loneliness in their liveswith the advent of globalisation, the joint family system is on the decline children often have to leave their parents behind in pursuit of employment as a result, senior citizens are forced to live a life of solitude modern social life offers little opportunities of social interaction to people at the dusk of their lives loneliness in life is not just a problem in itself, it brings with it a host of psychological and health issues people living alone are more vulnerable to depression there is ample evidence to prove that such persons sooner or later develop life-style diseases a study has found that the risk of alzheimer's dementia was more than double in lonely elderly individuals compared to those who were not lonelyin order to protect senior citizens from loneliness and its harmful effects, the bill therefore, seeks to amend the parent act with a view to:—(i) provide that the state government shall provide interactional and recreational facilities to senior citizens where they can interact with other people;(ii) make arrangement of regular visits to senior citizens living alone by officials or volunteers appointed by the state government in order to address their needs for social interaction and security;(iii) provide for counselling regarding elderly life and the need for social interaction to retiring employees and individuals approaching sixty years of age; and(iv) provide for creation of a database of senior citizens living alone and to provide for its confidentiality so as to prevent misuse of such database the bill seeks to achieve the above objects financial  memorandumclause 2 of the bill vide proposed section 23a provides for creation of a digital database of senior citizens living alone; it also vide proposed section 23b provides for interactional and recreational facilities for senior citizens living alone; and vide proposed section 23d, it also seeks to provide for counselling facilities to retiring individuals and individuals approaching the age of sixty yearsthe bill, therefore, if enacted, will involve expenditure out of the consolidated fund of india a recurring expenditure of rupees five crore is likely to be involved from the consolidated fund of india a non-recurring expenditure of about rupees two crore is also likely to be involved———— a billto amend the maintenance and welfare of parents and senior citizens act, 2007————(shri bhartruhari mahtab, mp)mgipmrnd—697ls(s3)—24-07-2018