In India, we live in a country where 75% of our population is under 40 years old. We are a young country, full of youthful energy. But where does this leaves the 90 million strong (?) old population? The question mark that I have put is because of the obvious fact that the old are not strong and need all kinds of support. The main question is that are we, in our abilities and also the government in its abilities, providing the support and quality of support that needs to be provided to the elderly? The answer is no. Time has come when we need to do some serious introspection and take this cause to another level.
The global scenario in case of the elderly is that all the developed nations have a fairly large number of elderly population. Japan is almost considered as a nation of the elderly. This is because of lowering birth rates, increased cost of living and government regulations in countries like China. As India moves towards the path of growth that will be driven by the youth that is existing in our country, are we virtually sitting on a time bomb of elderly population? What are we going to do when this young population grows old? Are we ready for the challenge and do we really care about our elderly?
It has been some time since we started moving towards nuclear families. This led to elderly living a more independent life. The rich gave their parents a new home to live in and the not so rich gave them the old age homes. To get into an emotional grind, the effect on the psyche of the old is not good. In the times of supporf they are left on their own. Some families care greatly about their parents and grandparents but the others just forget them in the chores of the busy day to day life. About 35% of the elderly population above the age of 80 is living alone according to the 2011 census data. It should be understood that living alone above the age of 80 is no easy task, mostly there is no work to do and there are ailments, diseases, doctors and hospitals. Along with these there is also loneliness to deal with. Statistics show that about 30% of the elderly population is employed. This helps in getting a living but does not helps in warding off loneliness.
Government has instituted measures to address the problems, but the implementation is almost nil. Number of BPL elderly has also been increasing steadily. There are a lot of yojnas to address this problem but there is no implementation. There is a great need for a public campaign to generate awareness on this sensitive issue. According to our traditions we have treated our parents as our gods. What changed this? Why have we come to this day when we have even stopped caring about them? There is a need for some serious introspection.