By : Satyaki Paul
Recently, the Agewell foundation has launched a report titled “Changing Needs of Old People in India with Special Focus on Current Old Age Care & Support Scenario” ahead of the World Elder Abuse Awareness Day i.e., June 15. This report was based on answers from 5,000 elderly, wherein around 82% of the respondents claimed that their life has been affected adversely due to the current coronavirus pandemic situation.
As per the report, around 73% of the elderly population acknowledged increased abuse during the lockdown imposed amid the second wave of COVID19. And, among them around 61% opined that interpersonal relationship were the chief factor accountable for fast snowballingnumbers of elder abuse in families of India.
Furthermore, during the survey, it was discovered that around 65% elderly respondents were facing abandonment in their life, while approximately 58% of the respondents said they are suffering abuse in their families and society.The report also noted that around 35.1% claimed that older people face domestic violence (physical/verbal) in old age.
Thus, with old age each and every elderly individual have to hinge on family care, which makes them vulnerable towards elder abuse, maltreatment, and harassment. The elderly women are worst affected due to their deprived financial status, amplified level of dependency, and even due to lengthier lifespan in comparison to elderly men. Furthermore, elderly individuals scarcely report occurrences of abuse to police due to various factors such as lack of awareness about their rights, poor physical health and lack of social support system. So, they are facing double whammy in the context of current situation of ongoing pandemic.
Nonetheless, if we want to beat China in global domain then we should also develop authentic schemes far superior than ones in place with augmented implementation in the ground level. Schemes such as Chinese “senior playgrounds” for elderly are mimicked by numerous developed nations such as London, Berlin and Toronto. Only supporting in Left or Right ideologies won’t do anything or leapfrog our status into “Vishwaguru”. Thus, we should develop our own infrastructure in such a manner that elderly individuals are also part of it and are contributing to it for further augmentation. Current pandemic has exposed each and every loophole in our system both in the Centre and the states, so this is the correct time to seek redressal through various timely government interventions and favourable policies. The author works as a Ph.D. Research Scholar at the Department of Anthropology, University of Calcutta, and the co-author of the book Anthropology For All (2021).