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| INCREASING EXPLOITATION OF THE AGED OLD INDIVIDUALS | | | KHUSHWANT S RANIAL | 7/17/2011 7:53:14 PM |
| The most distressing thing to note down is that with every passing day, we are coming across to learn and know through the media about the growing exploitation of the aged old individuals. In fact, the situation has not only become worse in our country alone but the plight of the elderly is not far better to feel pride in other developing nations. But if we confine alone in our country, it is roughly estimated and expected that by the end of year 2025, the number of the elderly in India would swell to 17 crores from the existing 10 crores now. Keeping in view this growing menace across the globe, world Abuse Awareness Day is observed on every 15th June to curb the malaise and overcome the issue to make the rest of the life of the aged old infirm people very soothing.
Analysis of the issue reveals that growing glitter and materialistic charm of the fast moving modern day to day life has led to the collapse of the joint family system. This aged old practice has led to the weakening of the strong bonding relations of the two successive but consecutive generations .There was a time when the subject of the elderly abuse was rated to be the taboo due to the strong tradition of reverence but with the growth of materialistic values ,situation has gone sea change. We can see the elders exploited physically in the form of assault, sexual assault, forcible confinement, murder, or abandonment; financial abuse in the form of theft, robbery, fraud, cheating, stopping mail with intent, causing mental agony, torture by intimidating, threats or the frequent insults or the total avoidance by not addressing to their problems .The worst sufferers are the women folk though the elderly men strength is not too less than the women folk. Such a disease can be found across different cross section of the society irrespective of topography and socio – economic strata.
There was a time around two decades ago that an elderly person regardless of the sex was considered to be a back bone of the family but now the same elderly one is treated to be a burden on the family owing to his ageing health and poor earning capacity. The elderly person of the today generally complains of the loneliness, lack of emotional support, ample leisure, often total neglect by the young siblings, has to wait endlessly for the meals and often have to go to the bed without the meals, remaining unattended for the weeks together and on seeking assistance meets with lot of the unpleasantness etc. To add to the shock, most of the time one even finds the elderly being shifted to aged old homes instead of giving due time and space by the young siblings. This type of distancing has consistently eroded the faith, trust, compassion, nearness and above all close proximity between the children and their elder ones. There is no doubt that we are living in the age of competition wherein we have to fight tooth and nail to meet the emerging demands like inflation, societal trends in view of the job constraints but viewed in totality the place of the elders is irreplaceable .They own their position in the family hierarchal set up without any bias or prejudice. But nuclear family adoption and increasing incompatibility between the young and the old have adversely affected the welfare of the elderly persons.
Realising the magnitude of this unabated problem ,in year 2006, the International Network for the prevention of elder abuse ,a Non –governmental organisation with its presence in the Asia ,Africa ,Latin America ,Europe, and Middle East ,called upon the member countries to first of all locate the presence of the problem ,followed by the type of abuse and then devise mean and methodise system to tackle this grave concern .What is disheartening is that same tree when in bloom sun shines, at that time not only housekeepers but also the relatives and neighbourers seek the shade and taste the fruit of success of his hard labour but once when the shine on the face declines ,glow on the face fades ,muscles weakens, strength in the body reduces, or in nut shell autumn arrives in the life cycle , not to speak of the outsiders but even those who have been cropped up by bearing all the brunt of different seasons of the life ,starts rushing back ,shedding responsibility of lending helping hand or strong shoulder to the crippled life bereft of the charms, even forgetting that one can go to pass through such a phase after couple of decades or few years.
It is thus the time to recognise vociferously the lost status of the elders keeping in mind that days are not far when we have to face the set tune and trend. There is a well knowing saying that as you sow so shall you reap. What amount of care we shall be giving to our elders will be getting accumulated in the form of our bank balance .Children pick up very fast because their vision is very sharp and what sort of treatment is afforded to them gets pasted on their tender minds .No doubt, they won’t spell out due to fear of wrath and our indignation but surely sooner they get accomplished to their feet, results in the form of reaction would start reflecting from their every action. So in order to stem the rot ,the best solution lies in the dissemination of education to train professionals like police, bankers, insurance, financial institutions, lawyers etc to effectively play an active role in the projection of the cases of the aged old persons without any delay . Those who have retired from the government services or other profitable skilful enterprises be re –employed for couple of hours to seek their long expertise experience benefiting in more than two manners. Firstly ,they will be able to get light remuneration to meet the expenses of their health and transportation ,secondly it will serve them as a useful past time service without getting bored, thirdly they would feel rejuvenated ,happy , alert, active stay fit and be remain more in the state of cheerfulness than spending most of the time in isolation. Apart if possible aged old schools be opened for those who wish to lend honorary services in their respective fields for couple of hours to lend knowledge to the young children. In gist our aim must be towards empowering older persons to gain health, food, shelter, financial stability and above all what they could not have in their prime of their life but at least be able to compensate the losses of the youthfulness before finally retiring to the eternal bliss forever. This is only possible if we rise to the occasion and shun with the maltreatment of abuse, neglect and sheer exploitation. |
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