As part of the ongoing postal week, India Post (Maharashtra & Goa
circle) is trying to get more senior citizens to open accounts in post
offices. The department is also using their network to keep a watch on
seniors. According to postal department sources, given that there has
been a rise in crimes against senior citizens, the department wants to
collaborate with Mumbai Police for safety of senior citizens
. A top postal official said, “We are oldest and biggest network, and
a majority of senior citizens have savings and other accounts in post
offices. So we can easily help the police initiate a dialogue with
seniors. Besides, our postmen go from door to door and have first-hand
knowledge about most of the families. If the police agree to work with
us, we can chalk out a programme for senior citizens’ safety.”
Abha
Singh, director of the India Post's Maharashtra and Goa circle,
confirmed this initiative: “A formal proposal to the police will be sent
out soon. We have eight lakh senior citizens’ accounts. We also have
over 4,000 postmen/postwomen who have direct access to people and can
help the police to register the elderly and identify vulnerable people,
and when we sense something amiss, we can report it to the police.”
She claimed that ever since the postal department started delivering driving licenses, circulation of fake licenses has ceased.
On
Friday, the department called a meeting of senior account holders in
the Colaba post office, where a senior police inspector from the Colaba
police station was called in to speak about safety measures.
The
home ministry and Mumbai Police are currently receiving flak for the
rise in crimes against seniors in the city. Home minister RR Patil and
the commissioner of police visited seniors last week as part of a
confidence boosting exercise. Along with a massive drive of registration
for seniors, Patil has assured that policemen will be visiting elders
on a regular basis.
source---DNA
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