Shimla, Dec 5 (IANS): Taking serious note of non-compliance with its orders, the Himachal Pradesh High Court on Thursday directed the Principal Secretary (Social Justice and Empowerment) to be present in court on December 17 and submit a compliance report regarding the setting up of old-age homes and day-care centres in the state.

In its order dated November 28, the court had directed the Principal Secretary Nisha Singh to personally furnish a list of senior citizens' and old-age homes.

A division bench of Chief Justice L. Narayana Swamy and Justice Jyotsna Rewal Dua passed this order on a writ petition filed by Vandana Mishra, who said old-age homes were required to be set up in the state.

She said that as per the census conducted by the United Nations Population Fund (India) as well as the Union Social Justice in 2011, Himachal Pradesh has the fourth highest population of senior citizens in the country.

She said a huge grant-in-aid for the running and maintenance of old-age homes is being provided to the state, but it has not done much to establish adequate number of such homes and other senior citizens' associations.

The petitioner sought directions to set up adequate number of old-age homes, day-care centres, a helpline and counselling numbers.