DC Edit | TG Law To Support Elderly Parents

The Telangana Assembly on Sunday passed the landmark Telangana Employees Accountability and Monitoring of Parental Support Bill, 2026, to ensure that children provide financial support for dependent parents.

The Bill, which awaits Governor’s assent to become a law, will be applicable to government employees, as well as those in the private sector, and aims to ensure a life of dignity, welfare, and financial security to senior citizens in the state. It mandates that 15 per cent of an employee’s gross salary or Rs 10,000, whichever is lower, be deducted and paid to parents in cases of neglect.

The country already has a specific law for this purpose — the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act — brought in during the first term of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government. While the Central law is wider in its application, the Telangana law is applicable specifically to employees.

The Central law is stronger as it bars civil courts from granting any injunction against the order issued by the tribunal under the law.

Under the Central law, the neglected parents will have to apply to a tribunal constituted by the state government under a sub-divisional officer, who is ranked deputy collector or sub-collector. The Telangana law empowers designated authorities, including district collectors, to issue salary apportionment orders and deposit the money into the parents’ bank accounts.

India is one of the few countries where parents spend most of their income to provide a better life to their children. However, the changed nature of society and growing individualism are eroding family bonds.

While there could be no two opinions about the responsibility of children to support their parents, legislation alone is not enough to protect senior citizens from neglect. Only proper education and upbringing — given by parents and teachers — may ensure that children behave responsibly towards their parents