Minister of State For Social Justice and Empowerment informed Rajya Sabha on the first day of winter session on Wednesday that as per the report of Longitudinal Ageing Study in India (LASI) (Wave-1) from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare around 5.2% of senior citizens surveyed reported ill- treatment and abuse.
According to the United Nations, elder abuse is a problem that exists in both developing and developed countries yet is typically under-reported globally. Even though the precise degree of elder mistreatment is unknown, its social and moral significance is obvious. As such, it demands a multifaceted response, one which focuses on protecting the rights of older persons.
The minister meanwhile said that to ameliorate their living standards, a number of schemes exist. He referred to National Policy on Older Persons, 1999, which envisages State support to ensure financial and food security, health care, shelter, protection and other needs of older persons to improve quality of their lives.
Under Atal Vayo Abhyuday Yojana, the government informed the parliament that the Department of Social Justice and Empowerment implements various welfare schemes for improving the living standard of senior citizens including Integrated Programme for Senior Citizens (IPSrC) under which grants in aid are given for running and maintenance of Senior Citizens Homes, Continuous Care Homes, Mobile Medicare Units etc. to the Implementing Agencies (IAs) such as Registered Societies/ Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) / Local bodies; Non-Governmental/Voluntary Organizations.
Apart from it, there is another scheme—Integrated Programme for Senior Citizens (IPSrC), Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana (RVY) under which aids and assistive living devices are provided to senior citizens belonging to BPL category or those senior citizens who earn less than 15000 per month and suffer from age related disabilities such as low vision, hearing impairment, loss of teeth and loco-motor disabilities. There is also a scheme by name Livelihood and Skilling Initiatives which aims to supplement the efforts of the senior citizens by providing them opportunities to enhance their earning and sense of self-respect.
While various programmes and schemes are there, implementation in an apt manner remains important.
One expects administration to plan and strategize taking into account local considerations and frame action plans for the welfare of senior citizens. The administration is also required to provide greater attention to the specific challenges affecting elders. While everything cannot and shall not be left to the government, people should address problems facing the elders on their own and treat them with respect and compassion.
