EDITORIAL: World Elders Day: Rewire to Roots
India’s population is now ageing. The projections suggest that India is yet to understand the ticking timebomb.
Physically challenged outnumbers the people above 85 years of age in Bihar. Data shows that Bihar has just about four lakh elders who are 85 years of age or more. Bihar, a big state in India, has a population exceeding eight crores.
Elders in Bihar are in a spotlight as the state goes to the polls next month. Three lakh new applicants surfaced soon after Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar announced a hike in monthly pension for elders, from ₹400 to ₹1100. Among the robust welfarism of Kumar, his pension enhancement for elders has brought much needed relief to senior citizens.
In an age where money is a powerful enabler of respect in life, elders are being seen more respectfully in the rural parts of Bihar after the pension hike announcement. A lot can happen with ₹1100, indeed in a village.
Reports said that Chandigarh is gaining attention of law enforcement agencies due to ballooning crime rate. The city is known as an oasis of pensioners. Youngsters abroad for jobs or education leave behind their parents tending empty nests.
A retired banker was fleeced of ₹23 crores by digital fraudsters in a Delhi NCR locality. He is among several senior citizens who are targeted across the country for digital banking frauds. The police personnel yawn to complains of elders, pointing to rising pile of files at his desk of cybercrimes.
A sense prevails as if the policy mandarins of the country barely feel the urgency to attend to challenges of the senior citizens of the country. Election exigency made Bihar CM realise that ₹400 is lesser than the daily wage of a labourer in his state. When women can get ₹2500 a month for doing nothing in several states, why cannot elders get a respectful pension from the government?
Netas know the importance of pension better than anyone else, for they draw multiple pensions to almost make a mockery of Indian democracy.
But elders suffer more than just pension pangs. They are lonely. Emotional void has no cure.
Challenges are aplenty. India’s population is now ageing. The projections suggest that India is yet to understand the ticking timebomb. A policy vacuum prevails to soft land India to the challenges of an ageing population.
A beginning can be made by rejecting the normalising sense that elders have to fend for themselves. They must not be alone.
Follow The Raisina Hills on WhatsApp, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, and LinkedIn
About The Author
