Smear on Society

The Union Government has just decided that those who have completed 60 years of age be considered as senior citizens ostensibly to facilitate them receive various benefits already earmarked for members of this section in society hitherto extended only to those older than 65 or 70 years. It is another matter that only a minor part of their population are aware of those benefits while most of the rest have to battle with the all-too-familiar hassles in getting the benefits of the granted privileges and favoured attention in public domain. Mysureans, like their counterparts elsewhere across the land, don’t need to be reminded about citizens in the evening of their life compelled to stand for hours in long queues at counters of various spots for remitting taxes, obtaining certificates from officials, purchasing journey tickets and so on jostling with much younger able-bodied persons. Looking the other way in crowded public transport while senior citizens are to be given vacant seats occupied by younger passengers is more a rule than an exception.

The plight of elderly citizens both within the four walls of their homes, having to share the living spaces is bound to get more uncomfortable and embarrassing in days ahead given the steady rise in life expectancy of Indian population resulting in unrelenting addition to the land’s already stressed headcount as well as increasing share of the elderly in the total population.

Blessed are those senior citizens who don’t have to suffer the prospect of being looked-down-upon by the same members of the family whom the now-old former majordomos have nurtured from birth to adulthood. The misery of the elderly in the family is beyond words in situations of their dependence on others for meeting their daily needs, particularly with no cash-in-hand. Their position in the family, barring exceptions, is tell-tale in cases of illness needing hospitalisation. It is no consolation that senior citizens outnumber younger people at most of the congregations such as music concerts, public lectures, discourses on spiritual matters, seminars on subjects of relevance to societal welfare and so on.

While a law under an Act of 2007 provides for the right for senior citizens to apply to a tribunal seeking a monthly allowance (capped at Rs. 10,000) from their children or heir, along with punishment for not paying (Rs. 5,000 or up to three months of imprisonment), it is anybody’s guess to what extent the senior citizens at large have been bailed out, given the ineptness of officials in implementing any law of the land. The current worsening scenario mirroring the misery of the mass of seniors is nothing short of a smear on Indian society, to put it mildly.