ONE of the effects of urban migration and young people going abroad in search of El Dorado is that elderly parents have to live alone in their native places. The current figure is about 50 lakhs. There is a gender angle to the problem. Almost three quarters of these old people are women mostly in rural areas. Some old people live as undesirable burdens on the families and have no other way to survive. The 2001 Census reveals the dark side of what is considered the demographic advantage which India intends to cash in on to overcome poverty. The elders have no access to services and schemes owing to physical constraints. They find it difficult to collect state-sponsored pensions and the benefits are paltry anyway. The schemes under the National Social Assistance Programme, launched in 1995, are restricted to the elderly, widows and the disabled below the poverty line. The states sometimes make matching grants. But the total is negligible, hardly reaching four figures. Healthcare costs in old age are also considerable.
There are other disadvantages of growing old-loss of status and peer community and isolation from society. The old are born into organic communities. Artificial communities of the aged can replace them. But where is the material support coming from the youth? Voluntary assistance and philanthropy do not droppeth from heaven. Senior communities are in no position to cope with future demand. In rural areas where the majority of old women live, finding affordable and accessible facilities is a tough job. There is need for a security net to protect the elderly. But a web of support and assistance is necessary to utilize it. As it is, the web is in tatters and the fruits of development do not reach targeted beneficiaries. Selling the hype abroad does not hide the gloomy reality.
