Abandoned and left to fend for themselves...

Ravinder Sood

Elderly people in the state, especially those above 70 years, are a neglected lot, as either they have been “abandoned” by their children or there is no one to take care of them, as their children are working outside the state. 

Most couples live alone despite the fact that they are well-off, but lack support from the family.

The state government in 2001 did bring in a legislation (HP Maintenance of Parents and Dependants Act) to deal with the situation, wherein the government had made a provision to debar children from moveable and immoveable wealth of parents, if they fail to look after them, but there has been no improvement in the situation. Rather, the number of such unfortunate parents has only gone up.

It may be recalled that the population of Himachal has gone static, like European countries, as per the 2011 Censes. In the present scenario, the situation will be more alarming, as there will be no one to look after old citizens after five years, not only in Kangra district, but all over the state.

Because of lack of job opportunities, thousands of doctors, engineers and management graduates from the state have been forced to move out in search of jobs leaving behind their aged parents in isolation. It has become a compulsion for them to leave their homes and move out in search of jobs in IT or other industry.

Information gathered by The Tribune revealed that in several cases, parents who stay alone usually suffer from various diseases such as depression, high BP or diabetes and there is no one to take care of them as their children are working in cities like Delhi, Bombay, Bengaluru, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad and Gurgaon. In 20 per cent cases, children work aboard.

In most of the cases, parents themselves do not want to leave their ancestral home and accompany their children. Many parents return back after staying with their children for a short while. A doctor serving in the UK said he had sent air tickets along with visa to his parents so that they could stay with him for six-months, but his parents returned after a month only.

Deteriorating law and order a cause of concern

Deteriorating law and order situation, increasing incidents of murder, thefts and robberies have further made the matters worse. There are instances where the elderly have been killed or robbed off their valuables in the recent past. In Kangra alone, dozen such incidents have been reported. Three persons were arrested by the police after they killed Dhramavir Dharmani, a retired XEN, in 2015 in Jwalamukhi after robbing him off his valuables and cash. There have been incidents where aged couples were robbed off in Palampur, Baijnath and Kangra, respectively. An old man was found dead at his house in the absence of any medical aid. In view of these incidents, Subedar Paras Ram (retd) has started a day-care facility for such families for free. DSP Palampur Vikas Dhiman has also given his phone numbers to people, so that they can call him in such a situation. He said he was receiving a number of complaints from the aged and helpless people. 

A couple said their son and daughter both work in the US and they met with an accident recently. In the absence of their children, there was no one to take them to the hospital and it was their neighbour eventually, who came to their rescue. There are instances when cremation ceremonies were also performed by the relatives and neighbours in the absence of family members. People’s Voice, an NGO, has asked the state government to initiate steps to encourage private and charitable organisations or NGOs to come forward and set up old-age homes or day-care centres, so that old and aged people can be helped. The government should provide financial assistance and land for setting up such centres. 

‘Well-versed with situation’

The state government is well-versed with the situation. The government has already identified over 1.30 lakh such persons all over the state and social security is being provided to them. A budget of over Rs 400 crore has been allocated by the department. Such abandoned and helpless aged people have been covered under department's different programmes. — A senior government official from the Social Justice Department

Setting an example

Sanjay Sharma, a social activist based in Dharamsala, has taken upon himself to take care of such families, who have either been abandoned or are staying alone as their children are based out of station. According to him, such people need government’s immediate attention and the government should come up with special packages such as old-age homes or day-care centres in the state with proper medical facilities. He said there was no policy of the state government to help such people.