The Telangana High Court on Monday issued notices to the State government regarding non-establishment of an adequate number of old age homes in different parts of the State.
A bench of Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice Anil Kumar Jukanti, while hearing a suo motu petition, instructed the government to file their affidavits in the matter within four weeks. The notices were issued to the Chief Secretary along with the Principal Secretary and the Director and Commissioner for Women, Children, Disabled and Senior Citizens.
It was noted in the PIL that some senior citizens were being deprived of basic amenities in their twilight years due to the lack of sufficient number of old age homes. The bench noted that Section 19 of the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007 mandated setting up of at least one old age home in each district, providing accommodation for nearly 150 senior citizens.
Despite specific and mandatory sections of the Act, the government could not establish such homes in sufficient numbers. This amounted to violation of the fundamental rights of indigent senior citizens. This was also a breach of the right to life, right to dignity and right to shelter mentioned in Articles 19 and 21 of the Constitution of India, the Bench said.
In a separate hearing, the Bench directed the State government to take a call on revoking the suspension of Telangana State Tourism Development Corporation managing director B. Manohar Rao within a week. Mr. Rao moved the High Court by filing a writ petition challenging his suspension on November 17 by the government based on the directions of the Election Commission of India which found fault with Mr. Rao extending protocols to Minister V. Srinivas Goud of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) during the latter’s visit to Tirumala.
The ECI held that Mr. Rao’s trip to Tirumala and his accompanying the Minister along with extending protocols amounted to violation of model code of conduct. After hearing contentions of the petitioner, the Bench directed the government to consider and decide within a week whether it was desirable to continue the suspension of Mr. Rao.
