State Of The Elderly In India

By Author: kanan james
Total Articles: 17
Comment this article

In India, about two-third of the population is under or almost thirty, so does bringing up old age problems (which are very much out there) sound awkward?

Just Imagine, out of ten old couples; over six are forced by their children to walk out from their homes. With no place to go and every hope gone, the elderly have got to turn to old age homes. In India, different from foreign countries, parents do not leave their children on their own after they turn eighteen (of course there are exceptions), however children find it difficult to accept the fact that there are times when parents want to feel the love that they once upon a time shared with them. There are times when parents just want to sit back and expect their children to take care of them. Every parent wants to see their child grow and do well in their life; however no parent wants their child to treat them like a burden on their responsibilities.

Every day, we see news of parents being beaten up by their children, parents as well as in-laws being forced to do the everyday household tasks, being made to live in small dungeon-like rooms, their property being ...
... compellingly captured by selfish children.

According to an estimate, approximately 40% of senior citizens living with their families are apparently facing mistreatment of one kind or another, but then only one in six cases actually comes to light. Even though, the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act penalizes children who abandon parents with a jail period of 3 months or a fine, still condition is ugly for aged people in India.

According to Non-Governmental Organizations, numbers of elderly couples being forced to sell their houses are extremely high. A lot of them suffer in silence as they are scared of humiliation or are too afraid to speak out. According to them, children are not able to tolerate parents’ health problems, nowadays.

In old age, health problems like losing control over one’s body, not recognizing own family due to Alzheimer are quite common. It is then that children start to see their parents as some kind of a burden. This all makes parents walk out of their homes themselves or are thrown out by their children. A few leave their aged parents in senior citizen homes providing home for support for the elderly and don’t come once to see them.

It’s a big shame….Forget the rights or elder laws in India that the elderly enjoy. Also, forget about the action that they can take. Think morally. Delhi has approximately 11 lakh senior citizens, however there are very less government run homes compared to the ones run by NGOs, private agencies as well as charitable trusts. The facilities are very less in government run homes.

The NGOs are run by donations made by people like you. Through your support they offer different facilities like, senior citizen health Care, livelihood support and a lot more.

Resource: - Author writes about HelpAge India -A Social Service Organization. For more details about Elder laws in India, Home Support for the elderly and Senior Citizen Healthcare visit https://www.helpageindia.org