New Delhi, Oct 1: The institution of family needs to be saved and strengthened to make sure the elderly do not lose out on love and care, veteran BJP leader L K Advani said today, as he tried to woo senior citizens, promising better policies for them if voted to power.
Addressing a function on the occasion of World Senior Citizens Day, 83-year-old Advani said his party was committed to ensure better welfare of the elderly. He said Indians were fortunate to still have a relatively stronger institution of family, and should work towards preserving it.
“In other parts of the world families have crumbled, consequently the responsibility of taking care of the older people has fallen on the government. In India the institution of family is still strong, though cities will have to learn from the rural areas,” Advani told a gathering comprising largely of senior citizens.
Advani said his party was “very active” on the issue and even has a separate senior citizens' cell, which has drafted a charter with demands like slashing of rail fares by 50 per cent for the elderly.
“At the centre, the Congress government might be in power, but there are nine states where our party or the NDA coalition is in power... We might not be able to do much more than ask the government at the centre, but in the nine states we can do more,” he said.
Advani was sharing stage with among others Delhi state BJP leader Vijendra Gupta and RSS national executive member Indresh Kumar, who has been named in the Ajmer blasts case.
“Issues like that of cutting down rail fares for the senior citizens can be implemented either by asking the Manmohan Singh government or if you vote us to power,” Advani told the gathering.
At the function organised by NGO Sampoorna, its president Shobha Vijendra said her organisation was conducting a comprehensive survey on the situation of the elderly people while raising demands like the establishment of a national commission for senior citizens.
“I am happy that Sampoorna is conducting a survey on the situation of the elderly, I urge them to complete the survey and give it to us. We can see what we can do in states governed by us,” he said.
Advani also used the occassion to ask elderly persons to do their bit to end the practice of sex selection and female foeticide.
“It is very painful to learn about practices of sex selection skewing the sex ratio in the our country and the elderly people should also take it upon themselves to prevent this,” he said.
“The bottomline is in every family children should be given the right teachings, like respecting women,” he said while joking how his wife was the one who was in charge of his family and home, and that “at home I am always the deputy home minister”. PTI
