Supreme Court directs Centre to ensure care for senior citizens living alone during COVID-19 pandemic

The Supreme Court today directed the Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment to ensure that steps are taken to provide care to those senior citizens who are living alone during the COVID-19 pandemic..The Bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan and R Subhash Reddy today directed the Ministry to ensure that old age pension for these senior citizens is disbursed in a timely manner..The Court also recognised that senior citizens living alone during the pandemic need to be assured of timely help should they make a request for the same..Today, the Bench said that the government is obliged to take care of elderly people who are living alone by ensuring that essential goods and services are provided to them. The Court thus directed,."We, in this application, which is specially confined to Covid 19 crisis, direct that all old age people who are eligible for pension should be regularly paid pension and those identified older people should be provided necessary medicines, masks, sanitizers and other essential goods by respective States.".Moreover, the states have to ensure that they respond promptly as and when the senior citizens living alone make such requests. The Court's order adds,."...as and when any individual request is made, the same shall be attended to by the Administration with all promptness.".The Centre was also asked ensure that all the safety precautions for COVID-19 are followed and that caregivers in old age homes be well equipped with masks, personal protection equipment (PPE) kits, and sanitizers..An observation also comes from the Court pertaining to admission of elderly people in hospitals with the Bench saying that elderlypeople must be given priority for being admitted to hospitals. However, the same is an observation and not a direction from the Court. The Order says,."We only observe that the elderly people should be given priority in the admission in the Government hospital looking to their vulnerability for Covid 19. In event of any complaint made by the elderly people, the hospital administration concerned shall take immediate steps to remedy their grievances.".These directions were passed by the Supreme Court in a petition filed by former Rajya Sabha MP and Senior Advocate Dr. Ashwani Kumar..The Supreme Court had earlier taken suo motu cognizance of the fear of spread of the contagion in prisons and child care institutions and had passed certain directions for ensuring that the spread is contained in these places..Read Order: