 bill no 157 of  2016 the maintenance and welfare of parents and senior citizens (amendment) bill, 2016 byshri mullappally ramachandran, mpabillto amend the maintenance and welfare of parents and senior citizens act, 2007be it enacted by parliament in the sixty-seventh year of the republic of india as follows:—short title and commencement1  (1) this act may be called the maintenance and welfare of parents and seniorcitizens (amendment) act, 20165(2) it shall come into force on such date as the central government may, by notificationin the official gazette, appoint(i) in clause (h), after the words "sixty years or above", the words "and shall include, irrespective of age, any elderly person or parent who is unable to operate his bank account or attend matters relating to his property due to age, disease or disability" shall be inserted; and5(ii) in clause (k), for the words "health care", the words "shelter, mental and physical health care" shall be substitutedamendment of section 43 in section 4 of the principal act, after sub-section (3), the following sub-sections shall be inserted, namely:—10''(3a) notwithstanding anything in sub-sections (1) to (3), a senior citizen or parent shall be entitled to make an application under section 5 against one or more of his grandchildren if the children of such senior citizen or parent are either dead or themselves entitled to make an application under section 5 by virtue of sub-section (1)(3b) the maintenance of parents or grandparents under this section shall be the obligation of those children who are entitled to receive the benefits of inheritance or succession under the statutory law or personal law, as the case may be"15amendment of section 174 in section 17 of the principal act, the following proviso shall be added at the end, namely:—"provided that the senior citizen including parent or grandparent shall have the right to be represented by a legal representative"20amendment of section 245 in section 24 of the principal act, for the words "shall be punishable with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to three months or fine which may extend to five thousand rupees or with both", the words "shall be punishable with rigorous imprisonment which may extend upto five years or fine which may extend upto one lakh rupees or with both" shall be substituted statement of objects and reasonsthe maintenance and welfare of parents and senior citizens act, 2007 was enacted to provide for more effective provisions for the maintenance and welfare of parents and senior citizens guaranteed and recognised under the constitution however, several thousand cases of utter neglect or even abandoning of elders by members of family are continuing to be reported dailyjust as the children have the right to education and married women have the right to maintenance, the elderly need a right to be maintained and provided with the basic essentials of life the responsibility rests on the children, grandchildren or next of kin of the aged persons however, such responsibility should be fixed in accordance with the right of succession as per personal or other laws applicable to themevery old age person needs care and protection and the responsibility should be casted upon society and government with fear of punishment in case of failurethe bill, therefore, seeks to amend the maintenance and welfare of parents and senior citizens act, 2007 with a view to—(a) include any elderly person or parent who is unable to operate his bank account or attend matters relating to his property due to age, disease or disability within the definition of 'senior citizen' under section 2;(b) include shelter and physical and mental healthcare within the definition of 'welfare'under section 2;(c) entitle a senior citizen or parent to make an application for maintenance against one or more of his grandchildren if the children of such senior citizen or parent are either dead or themselves entitled to make an application for maintenance;(d) put an obligation on children who are entitled to receive the benefits of inheritance or succession to maintain their parents or grandparents;(e) provide a right to the senior citizen including parent or grandparent to be represented by a legal representative; and(f) enhance the penalty for abandoning senior citizens hence this billnew delhi;mullappally ramachandranapril 22, 2016 annexure extract from the maintenance and welfare of parents and senior citizens bill, 2007 (56 of 2007)2 (a)    (h) "senior citizen" means any person being a citizen of india, who has attained the age of sixty years or above; (k) "welfare" means provision of food, healthcare, recreation centres and other amenities necessary for the senior citizensright to legal representation17 notwithstanding anything contained in any law, no party to a proceeding before a tribunal or appellate tribunal shall be represented by a legal practitionerexposure and abandonment of senior citizen24 whoever, having the care or protection of senior citizen leaves, such senior citizen in any place with the intention of wholly abandoning such senior citizen, shall be punishable with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to three months or fine which may extend to five thousand rupees or with both lok sabha———— a billto amend the maintenance and welfare of parents and senior citizens act, 2007————(shri mullappally ramachandran, mp)gmgipmrnd—1147ls(s3)—02-07-2016