Thiruvananthapuram Chief Minister V D Satheesan on Tuesday chaired a high-level meeting to review the draft policy for elders and the Keralam State Elderly Persons (Care and Protection) Bill, 2026, as the government moves to strengthen statutory protection and welfare measures for senior citizens.
The proposed policy and legislation come after the Congress-led UDF government created a separate department for senior citizens, fulfilling a key promise made in its assembly election manifesto.

“Chaired a high-level meeting to review the draft Keralam Policy for Elders and the Keralam State Elderly Persons (Care and Protection) Bill, 2026. Committed to ensuring statutory security, healthcare access, and a life of dignity for all senior citizens,” Satheesan said in a post on ‘X’.

Announcing the decision after the first Cabinet meeting of his government on May 19, Satheesan said the measure reflected how a society values its elderly population.

“We believe that the way a society respects elderly people is a measure of whether that society is civilised or not,” he had said.

“Our dream is that one day Keralam can tell the world that we are a civilised society and that we take care of our elderly with dignity,” he had said.

Satheesan had also stressed that the government would not allow elderly people to be left alone or neglected.

“We have to protect every elderly person. We will not allow them to be alone. The government is with them. Keralam is with them. That is the message,” the chief minister had said. PTI TGB KH