Nine of family killed as car falls into well in Nashik district
Nashik (PTI): Nine members of a family, including six children, were killed after their car fell into a well in Maharashtra's Nashik district, police said on Saturday.
The accident occurred in the Shivaji Nagar area of Dindori town around 10 pm on Friday, an official said.
The victims were heading home after attending a function at a banquet hall in the area when their car fell into a well near the venue, he said.
Personnel from the local police and emergency services arrived at the scene and retrieved the car and its occupants with the help of two cranes and swimmers around midnight.
The victims were members of the Dargude family from Indore village in Dindori taluka, the official said.
According to the police, the deceased were identified as Sunil Dattu Dargude (32), his wife Reshma, Asha Anil Dargude (32), and six children from the family, five girls in the age group of seven to 14 years and an 11-year-old boy.
Their bodies were brought to the government hospital in Dindori, the official said, adding that a case has been registered and a probe is underway to ascertain the cause of the accident.
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Kerala polls: Ageing voters in state seek security, dignity
Thiruvananthapuram (PTI): For 81-year-old Krishnamma, the high-stakes April 9 Kerala Assembly elections boils down to a single, urgent question. When party workers arrived at the doorstep of her modest, tile-roofed home in the hill hamlet of Vithura to seek a vote, she didn't want to hear about manifestos or political rivalries. Instead, she looked at them and asked, "When will I get my next pension payment?"
For thousands like her, the election is not just about politics, it is about survival, dignity and the assurance of care in the twilight years.
In a state often celebrated for its human development indicators, a silent demographic shift is underway, with Kerala's ageing population currently at 16.5 per cent -- the highest in the country -- and senior citizens forming a significant, powerful voting bloc.
The issues of elderly people are quite different from the voters of other age groups, as they want consistent disbursal of monthly pensions, medical facilities at their doorsteps and constructive means of engagement to address their loneliness.
As the LDF, UDF and NDA roll out promises tailored to this segment, Kerala's elderly are weighing not just what is being offered but also who can deliver with consistency and compassion.
"I depend entirely on the monthly pension. So, whichever party comes to power, my request is to ensure a consistent and increased social security pension," Suresh, a 70-year-old retired headload worker, told PTI.
Beyond economic and medical concerns, social isolation is emerging as a silent crisis among Kerala's elderly, especially those living alone as children migrate abroad.
Susheela, a retired government employee in Pandalam, wants a special scheme to address the safety and security of parents who live alone as children work abroad.
"Safety is always a matter of concern for us. We are living alone at home, as both of our children are working in two foreign countries. If we have a medical emergency at night, what will we do? That's also a major concern for me," the 72-year-old woman told PTI.
When Mohanan Nair, a KSRTC pensioner here, wants a dedicated space for senior citizens to spend time every day, Satheesh Chandran, a retired bank manager, feels that urgent steps are needed to address the social isolation being faced by the elderly.
The ruling LDF, highlighting its expansion of social welfare pensions in recent years, has promised to further increase their monthly assistance.
The UDF, meanwhile, has accused the government of alleged irregular disbursements and has pledged time-bound payments along with a revision of pension amounts.
The NDA has focused on creating a more structured social security framework, promising better integration of central schemes.
Senior CPI(M) leader and former Rajya Sabha MP T N Seema said the formulation of a "Vayojana Nayam" (Kerala State Policy for Elderly Persons) and the setting up of the Senior Citizens Commission are among the significant achievements of the Pinarayi Vijayan-led LDF government.
"In the past 10 years, the Left government was able to create an elderly-friendly atmosphere in the state through a series of interventions," she told PTI.
She recalled that steps had been taken to popularise the concepts, like senior citizen clubs at the grassroots level through local self-government institutions for the productive engagement of the elderly.
Kerala became the first state to introduce an exclusive "elderly budget" along with the state budget document in January this year to address the geriatric demographic shift.
Senior citizens have become the major beneficiaries when palliative care has been extended widely and the concept of care economy has been implemented in the state by the government, Seema said.
However, senior Congress leader and former Assembly deputy speaker Palode Ravi questioned the claims of the ruling front and said the senior citizens have been one of the most untapped sections in society in the past 10 years.
"Senior citizens in Kerala are one of the most experienced and potential banks of talent. But the lack of visionary initiatives by the Left government has turned them into a mere group waiting for their monthly pension of Rs 2,000," he told PTI.
If the UDF comes to power, a dedicated system will be developed to make use of their talents and potentials completely, Ravi added.
BJP general secretary S Suresh also criticised the Left government in terms of its approach towards elders and accused it of not implementing many central schemes for them properly.
"Kerala is one of the very few states which has not implemented Vay Vandana Yojana, the central scheme which guarantees free healthcare up to Rs five lakh to those aged 70 years and above," he told PTI.
He alleged that the state government did not release the monthly pension to elderly people regularly.
If the NDA comes to power, the treatment for elderly people would be made completely free, the leader added.
The LDF, in its recently released election manifesto, promised several schemes for senior citizens, including retirement homes, strengthening of co-op care geriatric and palliative care centres and so on, along with the enhancement of monthly pensions up to Rs 3,000.
Meanwhile, the UDF promises to set up a dedicated department for the welfare of senior citizens and innovative initiatives like "Ammavadi" on the model of anganwadi for the care of elderly women.
