Elderly people are an integral part of our society and they form about 12 % of the total population among which females outnumber males. Majority of elderly people live in villages. According to census 2011, Kerala has the maximum proportion of elderly people in its population (16.5 %) and Bihar has the minimum proportion of elderly people in its population (7.7%). They play an important role for the betterment and all round development of a society. They carry nectar of knowledge and vast experience and pass on the rich knowledge and vast good experience to the younger generation. Elderly people also share their good experiences on core public issues like education, health, sanitation, agriculture farming etc. Their guidance and suggestions due to vast experience are always welcome by the conscious and civilized people. Their multidimensional role from upbringing and education of children to the economic development of a society is praiseworthy and incomparable but unfortunately, younger generations fail to understand their laudable roles in all round development of a society. For the past many years, the Jammu and Kashmir state has been witnessing rapid social transformation due to industrialization, urbanization, westernization, globalization, education, and technology. Social transformation brought ample changes in our society like the breakdown of the joint family system and disappearance of some positive traditional cultural values. The change in family structure and erosion of traditional positive cultural values results in elderly people losing their relevance and significance in their own homes. Elderly people are highly sensitive and vulnerable. They are prone to heart diseases, obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol levels etc. Vision and hearing impairments are very prevalent among them and even decreased mobility are making it difficult to leave their homes that result their anxiety and depression in an isolation condition. Younger generation feeling embarrassment by living with elderly people are showing indifferent attitudes and intolerance towards elderly people that also develop anxiety and depression among them. Deliberate neglect and abandonment of elderly people further complicates their problem of anxiety and depression. Respect, love and care by children to elderly people that will serve as a good healing therapy during their old age period and equally avoid their anxiety and depression risks are hardly visible in the majority of families. It has been reported that the majority of children leave their old aged parents after they get married. Some children who were well educated by their parents in good schools left their old aged parents alone in homes after migrating to foreign countries and even other states. Despite elderly people having their own children, they feel childless, helpless and are dependent either on their own income like old age pension funds or on others. Their mind is always preoccupied with negative thoughts and are feeling most vulnerable and lonely. Meagre pension funds by the government for elderly people are not meeting their healthcare costs and most elderly avoid necessary lifesaving medicines due to financial problems. Geriatric care facilities in the majority of hospitals are also lacking for them. Elderly people, who need rest, care and help particularly in rural areas are themselves working tirelessly to meet their basic necessities of life. They want to live with dignity and work honestly until their last breath.
The number of caregivers to elderly has decreased in modern society. Ill-treatment, beating, harassment, abuse, humiliation and denial of basic services food, clothing, and medicines to elderly people have led to their several health and emotional problems. Elderly people once acting as managers for their families have been reduced to helpless due to social changes. The modern and younger generation people fail to understand that they too have to reach an old age stage and become partly or wholly dependent on others. Treating elderly as inferior, useless and worthless is strictly forbidden by the religion of the Islam and is a big sin. The responsibility of children to take care of their own old aged parents and treat them kindly have shown great changes. Respecting and honouring the elderly by the common people and even some of their own children hardly matters. The recent order of Jammu and Kashmir government for re-registration of elderly in the Social Welfare Department added to their already miseries and problems of health. Although, re-registration process is a good and welcome step and aims for excluding all fraudulent beneficiaries’ but it has many demerits. Traveling of elderly particularly widows, disabled, divorcees, pensioners to long distances and waiting in a long queue for hours during biting cold days is not less than the doomsday for them. It is pertinent to mention that many elderly people left the mandatory process of re-registration owing to their health issues and complex procedures by the government. Non-inclusion of elderly people in pension benefit schemes kills the aim and objective of the schemes and is a big question mark for the concerned authorities. Exclusion of elderly from all other social security schemes due lack of knowledge and awareness is also a challenge. The concerned departments do not conduct village level awareness programmes for the inclusion of elderly in various welfare schemes. There are a number of government welfare schemes available for elderly but unfortunately, illiterate and poor elderly do not know about the names, procedures and importance of various welfare schemes. Lack of old age care homes either at community level or at the government level is another challenge for elderly people because there are many elderly people who are either childless or have lost their children or whose children do not care for them. In such a situation, it becomes the responsibility for the government and a society to take great care for elderly people in old age care homes. Imparting moral and religious education among the younger generation will develop moral values among them that will prove fruitful for priceless elderly people. We need to create a good and healthy society where elderly people do not feel worried, disturbed tortured, humiliated, scorned and mocked, but they should feel proud and honour due to great care and respect by the younger generation. Helping, respecting, caring and showing kindness to elderly people in different situations is a token of respect and honour to them. It is our moral duty and responsibility to respect and take care of elderly. They are priceless assets and the need of the hour is their social care, psychological care; health care, economic care so that they can live dignified lives along with the younger generation irrespective of age, health problems etc. The Government of India has launched many welfare schemes for the welfare of the elderly people like Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pension Scheme (IGNOAPS), Integrated Programme for Older Persons (IPOP) etc. Education and awareness among elderly people about the importance of welfare schemes and their inclusion at doorsteps by the concerned department will resolve their financial and health issues to some extent. Enhancement of monthly pension funds, free health check-ups in their homes and distribution of free medicines reduce their anxiety and bring a sigh of relief. Establishment of old age care homes by the government at tehsil level and Geriatric wards in hospitals give new life to dismayed elderly people. Let us create a healthy society where elderly people are highly respected instead of humiliated, abused, tortured and harassed and young people are not worried about getting old.
(The author is a teacher at Govt Boys Higher Secondary School Beerwa Bidgam. The views, opinions, facts, assumptions, presumptions and conclusions expressed in this article are author’s own and aren’t necessarily in accord with the views of “Kashmir Horizon”.)
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