Mumbai:
Vasant Tarte, a police constable in his early 40s has a gruelling schedule. In spite of that, he makes is a point to visit the Memon couple every single morning.
The Memons, in their late 70s, live alone in Mumbai. Mr Tarte, a father of two, has adopted the couple and has pledged to take care of them. This act is not by way of adoption under the Hindu law but is part of a unique drive initiated by the Mumbai Police in a bid to instill confidence in senior citizens - considered to be the most vulnerable section in the society. With an increasing number of elderly couples living alone, added to the rising incidents of crimes against them, this noble initiative ensures that the police's help is available to them at their doorstep, quite literally.
"En route to work, I drop by to check on them. I know them as I have been serving at the Nagpada police station for over two years and they live opposite the police station, but after the drive, I started frequently interacting with them," an emotional Mr Tarte told NDTV while elaborating on the campaign.
"I feel at home when I come here. Their kids have settled abroad, so they feel lonely. Serving them reminds me of my parents who stay alone in my home town in Satara ", he adds.
The Memons are only too happy talking about their 'son'. "We feel nice when he comes over. Our kids aren't in India, so we feel lonely. He fills the vacuum," Mrs Falusa Memon told NDTV. "We are scared reading about the spate of attacks on elderly citizens and hope that this drive is successful," she adds.
But not every senior citizen has a happy story to tell about the police. Malvika Jhaveri, a 68-year-old resident of Gamdevi in South Mumbai, was robbed at knifepoint by two unidentified men who barged into her house in August this year and robbed her off jewellery worth 14 lakhs.
"They handcuffed me and tied me to a chair and took away all my jewellery," said Mrs Jhaveri.
Bitter and scared, the Jhaveris have now installed CCTV cameras outside their home and hired a personal security guard.
"We have no faith in the police, so we have hired a guard at our expense," she added.
The police are hoping to change that with this new campaign, especially after a string of attacks on the elderly.
Six senior citizens were killed and over 40 cases of chain snatching were registered in just one month - all with the motive to rob the helpless couples.
On October 1, the Memons had a surprise visitor - Maharashtra Home Minister RR Patil, who had come to take stock of this new drive.
"We will ensure that all the senior citizens are registered and a constable visits them regularly," he told mediapersons.
As part of the drive, one needs to register themselves with the local area police or call them on the elderly helpline number - 1090. The police promise that a dedicated constable would be assigned to meet senior citizens in his area and keep a constant vigil on them.
"This won't strain the police force. This is part of its social obligation and we are too happy to help, "says Mumbai Police Commissioner Satyapal Singh, when asked if his force that's already understaffed and overworked, was being pushed to the wall.
The sincerity is apparent, but the attacks on senior citizens not only expose the loopholes in policing a metropolis like Mumbai but also reflect the growing social realities where the elderly are forced to live all by themselves.