ANALYZING THE DEVELOPMENT OF MWPSC ACT AND THE 2019 AMENDMENT BILL

AUTHOR – SARTHAK MALAWLIYA, STUDENT, LLM (CONSTITUTIONAL LAW), AMITY INSTITUTE OF ADVANCED LEGAL STUDIES, AMITY UNIVERSITY, NOIDA

BEST CITATION – SARTHAK MALAWLIYA, ANALYZING THE DEVELOPMENT OF MWPSC ACT AND THE 2019 AMENDMENT BILL, INDIAN JOURNAL OF LEGAL REVIEW (IJLR), 5 (8) OF 2025, PG. 248-255, APIS – 3920 – 0001 & ISSN – 2583-2344.

Abstract

The welfare of senior citizens is deeply ingrained in Indian social and constitutional consciousness, reflecting traditional ethos and evolving legal frameworks. The Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007 institutionalizes care and respect for elders, converting moral responsibilities into enforceable rights. Unlike conventional social welfare schemes, this Act imposes a legal obligation on children and heirs to maintain their parents and elderly relatives, providing monetary support and protection from neglect, abuse, and dispossession. It also mandates the state to provide infrastructure and institutional care, including old age homes and medical facilities, distributing responsibility between the family and the government. The MWPSC Act establishes a streamlined framework through Maintenance Tribunals to expedite claims of senior citizens, simplifying the process and allowing suo motu cognizance and applications by third parties. However, the decentralization has led to discrepancies in implementation and legal interpretation, as seen in controversial state-specific eviction remedies. To address these gaps, the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens (Amendment) Bill, 2019, was introduced to strengthen and expand the Act. The Bill proposes defining adoptive and stepchildren as “children” and expanding “maintenance” and “welfare” to include emotional, physical, and mental well-being. It also proposes faster timelines for disposal of maintenance applications, especially for those above 80 years of age. The Amendment emphasizes institutional care, including accredited senior citizens’ care homes and multi-service day-care centers, meeting minimum infrastructural and service standards. It aims to institutionalize police protection for senior citizens by mandating officer designations in every police station and creating dedicated elder welfare units. This paper examines the MWPSC Act’s foundational justifications, constitutional underpinnings, and practical challenges, while evaluating the 2019 Amendment Bill’s implications.

Keywords : MWPSC Act, Maintenance, Parents And Senior Citizen, Eviction, Welfare