"Older people have the right to live in dignity and security and to be free of exploitation and physical or mental abuse".

UN Convention on Ageing, 1977

CASE STUDY 1: There are 29 homes for the aged in Chennai - most of them house full. Yet there are at least 12 new applicants everyday at each of these homes.

CASE STUDY 2: Violence, abuse of the elderly.

The natural process of ageing has grown into something of a nightmare. Eskimos send their elderly away on ice floats when they they grow too old to contribute to the family, but what is less well known is that something similar is happening here in India.

Some of the tribes living in the hilly tracts of South India also look upon their elderly as a burden, a group whose usefulness has been exhausted. Therefore, the thinking goes, they are expendable and, social workers have said, are killed.

In a society such as ours, where economic considerations and productivity are prime forces, a non-productive group has little cheer. Consequently, India gives little thought to the old, nor pays much attention to their needs.

But take a look at the figures:

The elderly are the fastest growing section of the population.

In 1947, India had 19 million senior citizens (people over the age of 60).

Fifty years later, that figure has increased by nearly four times to 70 million.

Projections for the year 2025 put the senior citizen population at a whopping 150 million, much more than the population of Bangladesh.

It is pretty clear that the nation is fast approaching 'grey' status. Yet senior citizens remain one of the most neglected groups as far as human rights are concerned. The principal reason for that is the smug assumption that they will be well cared for by their families and communities.

As indeed they were, once, but that was in another age. Today, the ability of the traditional family to provide care for their elders is under increasing stress. Or rather, what is left of the traditional family. Migration from the villages and towns to cities in the early seventies might be seen as the point where it all began. As more and more young people moved to the cities in search of jobs, money and brighter prospects, they left their old people behind. When they found their jobs, they remained in the cities, causing the first fissures in the cocoon of the traditional family. Even the joint families in the cities began breaking up into micro units - nuclear families - and the aged population in the country suffered.

So India has more and more broken-down families, an increasing number of old age homes, inadequate social support systems and a dearth of effective policies in favour of the aged. As the 60-plus population burgeons, old age homes have come to be regarded as commercial enterprises and are mushrooming all over the country.

The government reacted to this change by introducing in 1999 the National Policy for Older Persons. Since 1991, the first day of October has been observed as International Day of Older Persons and 1999 was observed as the International Year of Older Persons.

The National Policy elaborated on the UN Convention on Ageing, Vienna, 1982. The same year, the UN General Assembly endorsed an International Plan of Action on Ageing, setting forth a number of recommendations to deal with the situation of older persons.

The United Nations Principles for Older Persons, further developed by the National Policy, say among other things that the aged should have access to adequate food, water, shelter, clothing and healthcare, have the opportunity to work, and access to other income generating activities, have access to appropriate educational and training programmes and be able to live in environments that are safe and adaptable to personal preferences.

They must also be able to live in dignity and security, free from exploitation and physical or mental abuse.

In pursuance of these aims, India's Policy envisages a great number of development schemes for the aged in the spheres of healthcare and nutrition, financial security, shelter, protection of life and property and welfare. It outlines in great detail how these schemes should be implemented, the principal areas of government intervention and action strategies. It advises voluntary organisations and health practitioners to pay more attention to the elderly, suggesting ways in which they might do this.

Health

Advances in medical technology over the past years have ensured longevity but not good health. The problem is that old people live longer but remain in a state of continuous ill health. While the debilitating effects of old age cannot be avoided, damage can be minimised through careful planning and preparation right from middle age, doctors advice. This will ensure that basic functional capacity is retained even after 60 and thereby, a certain degree of independence.

Lack of awareness about medicare services being offered free of cost is one reason for misery among senior citizens in the lower income groups. Poverty and illiteracy among large sections of the populace keeps crucial messages from reaching them, despite government efforts.

And if awareness is there, the access to such services is limited. The best method advocated is the strengthening of the public health care system in the country. Social workers say the solution to this might be to set up more geriatric clinics and reserve geriatric wards in hospitals for exclusive delivery of medicare for the aged. Since more than 70 percent of India lives in its villages, the role of Primary Health Care Centres (PHC) is critical. These centres must assume the responsibility of ensuring that the senior citizens of rural areas get proper medical facilities. According to The National Policy for Older Persons, PHCs in the villages must become one-stop shops on geriatric care.

The Policy also specifies that in addition to strengthening the PHCs, medical and para-medical staff in primary, secondary and tertiary healthcare facilities will be given training in healthcare of the elderly. It also indicates that hospices supported by the state, or assisted by charity will be set up to take care of the chronically ill or destitute elderly.

Economic independence and productivity

Difficulties in getting pension and provident fund from government run set-ups have contributed in no mean measure to the indignities heaped on the elderly.

The pension 'problem' has indeed been the subject matter of a large number of regional language movies and the trials and tribulations of a pensioner moving through different sections of an indifferent pension office have been amply portrayed in the media. However, though individual solutions have followed, by and large the bogey of pension is yet to be addressed as a concrete issue. The National Policy assures that coverage under old age pension scheme for poor persons will be significantly enhanced, with the objective of covering all those below the poverty line.

The Policy assures that pre-retirement counselling policies will be promoted. HelpAge India, a national body working for the welfare of senior citizens, has a comprehensive pre-retirement counselling package for prospective retirees. This includes ideas for income generating activities after superannuation. Though this activity has gained currency of late in the organised sector, the unorganised sector continues to be largely neglected. Considering that nearly 90 per cent of the workforce belong to the unorganised sector and continue to work without formal retirement, welfare measures must be evolved to help them take care of their future too.

What senior citizens have appreciated in the Policy and hope will be implemented soon is the promise to ensure that the Public Distribution System will reach out to them.

Violence

Over the past couple of years, newspapers have been filling their columns with news about violent assaults on older persons staying alone. Increased urbanisation has ensured a consequent rise in the number of elderly people living alone in the cities. Retired men and women living all by themselves in apartments have often been the target of burglars and house-breakers. Planned break-ins coupled with gruesome murders of the witnesses of crimes have been taking place with appalling regularity, particularly in the metros of Delhi and Mumbai.

In this context, 'safety', which was hitherto perceived as the least of the problems to do with the aged, suddenly assumed alarming proportions. In order to counter this, a number of NGOs came up with policies to ensure the safety of these senior citizens.

Helplines have been set up in some of the major metros to help senior citizens summon help in such circumstances. Largely the efforts of NGOs, these services, however helpful, are few and far between. Definitely not sufficient to address the needs of the vast grey population. Government initiative in the area, is therefore suggested as the best solution.

The National Policy also recognises the fact that "Old persons have become soft targets for criminals. They also become victims of physical and emotional abuse within the household by family members." The Policy envisages introduction of special provisions in the Indian Penal Code to protect older persons from such abuse. Tenancy legislation would also be reviewed to give older persons guaranteed rights of occupancy.

The Policy once again declares that the police will be directed to keep a friendly vigil on older couples or senior citizens living alone and promote mechanisms of interaction with neighbourhood associations.

Women and Ageing

It is a double burden that older women have to bear. In addition to having to face the travails of being a senior citizen, there is an in-built disadvantage of being a woman in India. According to the latest statistics, around 18 million of the 70 million senior citizens in the country are widows.

The lack of adequate financial resources, the power to make decisions and a lifetime of living under the control of other members of the family have rendered many of them incapable of running their lives after 60 years. While the aged remain a largely neglected group, special care services for aged women are yet to occupy the attention of policymakers and voluntary organisations alike.