Graying India’s issues not on radar of parties

Poll notification is expected today. All parties will get into full election mode, hold road shows, compete with one another in giving guarantees and the target will be the poor, women and youth. Accusations, allegations, taking jibes at each other will be in full swing. Some may even stoop the level of indulging personal attacks bordering character assassination. ‘All is fair in war and love, they would say.

Well, amidst the din what every political party including the BJP is forgetting, or shall I say, ignoring one important section of the society to which the leaders like Modi, Mallikarjun Kharge, and Sonia Gandhi belong to.

According to the Union Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), by 2050 a greying India will have a quarter of its population to look after. A sizeable portion of them would be very old (80 and above) and widows, as women tend to live longer. Most of this ailing, frail population would be living in villages.

Worse, nearly 90 per cent of the elderly worked in the informal sector and do not receive social security coverage, like pension and mediclaim, post retirement, according to HelpAge India. They either continue to work beyond retirement age or suffer from neglect and alienation. The premium charged by insurance companies is very high and unless their children are willing to pay the premium, the senior citizens become helpless as they suffer from financial insecurity.

A majority of the elderly people have limited or no access to pension plans or retirement benefits, forcing them to rely on meager savings or their children for financial support, health issues like refractive errors, hearing loss, cataract, join pains, osteoarthritis, chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases, diabetes, depression dementia etc., are some of the common conditions. In most cases, their children stay abroad and the parents are alone with no one to attend on them.

This leads to loneliness and isolation. Even everyday tasks become difficult for them. Their mobility reduces and dexterity declines making their life miserable. Even daily tasks become difficult and sometimes risky as well. Some may even require specialized home based care which again is costly affair. While pensioners to some extent are little better off, a majority of the senior citizens are in non-pensionable jobs and their life becomes more pathetic.

Healthcare can be complicated and disjointed for elderly people, especially for those struggling with long-term conditions. The care requires lots of different medical professionals and clinics to coordinate delivery of medication and other types of care.

Statistics indicate that the number of senior citizens — aged 60 years and above —is increasing. But none of the political parties or leaders has focused any attention on this section of the society. This is one grey area of Indian politics. Neither Modi is giving any guarantee nor Rahul Gandhi’s Mohabat ki Dukan seems to be showering any Mohabat on them. According to experts in population studies, public health and senior citizen care is most important but most ignored in India.

The number of elderly people is increasing than before. From 56.5 million in 1991, the number of elderly (those above 60) has increased to 103.2 million in 2011— the largest ever in the country’s history and by 2050 quarter of population will be senior citizens. The Modi 3.0 which talks of Viksit Bharat by 2047 should focus on this section as well. Schemes like Ayushman Bharat are intended for only the poorer sections but what about other non pensioner senior citizens? Modi ji Jara Sochiye? Let them also say Modi hai tho Mumkin hai.

None of the successive governments bothered about the growing acuteness of the problem though the average age of any cabinet so far has been 65 plus years.