At a seminar in Kashmir University, Senior Geriatric Consultant and Director, Gauri Kaul Foundation, said that in his Kashmir-based study of nearly 27,000 elderly persons, at least 50% reported to be facing abuse in one or the other form.
He said 26,237 patients in two different settings were seen; those who were financially dependent and those financially independent.
The study revealed 43% elderly abuse in one setting and 52.3% in the other, which means around 50%.
It means one out of two elderly people face abuse. The Geriatric Consultant said that estimate was conservative because it is only after lots of effort that people narrate their plight.
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.
As per Social Justice and Empowerment Ministry, a number of schemes exist to ameliorate their living standards. The ministry 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.
While various programmes and schemes are there, implementation in an apt manner remains important. The administration is required to provide greater attention to the specific challenges affecting elders. While everything cannot be left to the administration, people should treat elders with respect, compassion and kindness. As underlined by some experts, there is a need to create a society that values its elders and treats them with all respect, dignity, compassion and empathy.
