Parents\\\' Care Act 2013: Effectiveness and limitations

The Parent's Care Act, 2013, a law to ensure social security for the senior citizens, legally compels the children to take good care of their parents. According to the law, the children will have to take necessary steps to look after their parents and provide them with food and shelter. The children will have to pay 10 per cent of their total income regularly to their parents if they do not live with them. Furthermore, under no circumstances the children are allowed to send their parents to old homes against their wishes.
The law also allows aggrieved parents to file cases against their children if they decline to support them. A first class magistrate court will settle issues related to the violation of the law. For reconciliation of any issues, local government representatives such as chairmen and members or others authorised by them, will settle the disputes. The law has a provision to impose a fine of Tk.100,000 and, in default, three months of jail for violation of the law. Spouse or any relative, including the in-laws, will be considered as offenders and will be punished if they are proved guilty of having objected to such support.
From the moment we are born, we are dependent on our parents. They bring us up with unconditional love and care amid best of amenities they can afford. Thereafter a time comes when the children become adults and the parents step into retirement age.
That is the time when some parents fall back on their children for survival. Unfortunately, incidents of failure to provide the love and care to parents are aplenty, so much so that the Jatiyo Sangsad had to intervene and adopt a law under the name and style of Parents Care Act 2013 of Bangladesh (the '2013 Act'). Neighbouring India has a similar law entitled 'The Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act 2007 (the '2007 Act') of India'.
Both the Bangladesh and Indian laws were introduced to ensure that the children take necessary steps to look after their parents and treat them with 'maintenance'. Maintenance is defined in the Indian law as provision for food, clothing, residence, medical care and treatment while the Bangladesh law defines the same as provision for, among other things, food, clothing, residence and medical attendance and treatment. Under the 2013 Act, the children will have to pay a reasonable amount of their total income regularly to their parents if they do not live with them. Moreover, the children will have to meet their parents regularly if they live in separate places. Furthermore, under no circumstances are children allowed to send their parents to old homes against their will. The 2013 Act does not however define what constitutes a reasonable amount. Both the Indian and Bangladesh Acts allow aggrieved parents to file cases or make application against their children if they decline to support them. However, when compared, the Indian law seems to be more practical and effective than the Bangladesh law for the following reasons:
Firstly, the Indian Act includes adoptive and step-parents under the term 'parents', while only the birth mothers have been recognised as mothers in the Bangladesh Act. This deprives a large section of adoptive and step-mothers from being protected under this law. Surprisingly, the law does not make a similar distinction in case of the fathers. The definition of father includes any man who is father to the child. Although the definition is vague, it does not exclude the adoptive and step fathers to be protected under the Act, unlike in the case of the mothers.
Secondly, the Indian Act states that the application can be made by a parent, or, if he is incapable, by any other person or organisation authorised by him on his behalf. Unfortunately, there is nothing in the 2013 Act that suggests who is eligible to lodge a claim under the Act. If it is only the parents who are entitled to lodge a complain under the 2013 Act, then the Act fails to acknowledge the vulnerable position of the parents, both financially and physically.
Thirdly, according to section 5(4) of the Indian Act, an application made by the parents or the senior citizens should be disposed off within 90 days from the date of serving the notice. The Bangladesh Act includes no such provision. Considering that the potential litigants under the 2013 Act are people belonging to a vulnerable age group, it should have made a similar provision as that of the Indian Act to settle the matter in a speedy and cost-effective manner.
Although apparently, the 2013 Act seems to contain everything that is required to ensure care for the parents, in reality there are areas which are left unclear and need to be amended to make the act effective. For instance, there are ambiguities around key terms like 'reasonable amount' and 'father', which need to be clarified. It should also include adoptive and step mothers under the definition of mothers.
Finally, considering the vulnerable age group of the victims, provision should be made so that cases involving the parents/senior citizens are dealt with in a speedy and cost-effective manner.

The writer is a Senior Lecturer & ex-Coordinator of the Department of Law, World University of Bangladesh.
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