Shiban Khaibri
A saying goes,” Do not regret growing older, it is a privilege denied to many.” A family and a society is reckoned, among other things, by how it treats its seniors or elders, whether they are treated as an avoidable liability , a dead wood or a living treasure, a blend of experiences and wisdom or a thing worn out and rendered virtually useless. It is again the question of traditional value systems and religious beliefs aiming at being quite supportive of the elders in our society. This scenario in turn largely can influence the administrative machinery of a government dealing with issues involving the welfare of the seniors. It is a matter to be rued that on the whole, both societies as well the governments, are increasingly turning unresponsive to the genuine needs and expectations of its senior citizenry. That, in the stage of their twilight, in most of the cases, they are ignored, neglected, avoided, misunderstood and even troubled, is all the more reprehensible. The “perpetrators”, in case they are called so, forget that they too have to pass through this inevitable, irrevocable and irreversible stage and should, therefore, at least on that account, adopt a sensitive and human approach to the issue. The fact of the matter also is that there are still numerous households, strict ones, across the country, where the young are taught and brought up in an environment where elders are respected and due deference shown to them. Back to basics and relevance to the ancient Indian civilization and culture is now well understood and tried to be emulated by other countries, most of which are economically well developed. In matters of respecting the elders in India, the common tradition has been that the feet of the elders are touched as a mark of reverence and where almost all domestic decisions are taken with the consent of the elders and where they are made most comfortable with a feeling nourished that they are important in the family like they were in their years of prime vigour and strength.
There are countries where elders are taken well care of and respected. In China, there are laws sufficient to ensure that provide security and care to the elders at home itself. In Japan, “Respect for the aged” day is a national holiday celebrated annually to honour elderly citizens. This was started since 1966 to be treated as national holiday and is held on every Sept15.
The stark fact is the increasing prevalence of elders getting a rough deal both at home and outside in our country. With the increase in the average life span and the population of the seniors expected to be over 5.7% , it becomes all the more important for the governments both at centre and in states to take reasonably sufficient measures of social security in respect of elders and pass suitable legislation for it. It is regrettable to find that the government has been more busy in pushing forward flagship schemes to garner votes in the elections irrespective of whether the economy could sustain the burden or whether they were justified by economic variables, in particular – when assessed on wastages, mismanagement, corruption and irregularities in implementation. The mismanagement and mess, for instance in MGNREGA scheme of providing 100 job days per year per rural household, involving bungling of hundreds of crores of rupees, puts question mark on dishing out of similar schemes by the government with eye on votes only. The ruling dispensation may argue that NREGA scheme returned them to power but there is no scheme tailored for providing the elders a life of dignity. A senior Union Minister, in charge of Rural Development, Jairam Ramesh terms the amount of pension paid to the senior citizens as “an insult to the dignity.” While as the minimum wage payable per day under MGNREGA scheme is Rs.174, a revision seven times since the launch of the scheme in 2006-07, it is mere Rs.200 per month as pension payable to the elders under the Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pension Scheme. With this type of approach, it can well be seen as to how are the elders treated by the government. A comprehensive national social security scheme is needed in the country to ensure active and healthy ageing of the elders. Rarely can it be seen that while depositing bills at specified counters of electricity, telephone, or at railways or other counters, separate arrangements are made for seniors in the light of the findings of the National Sample Survey Organization saying that one out of two elderly people in India suffers from at least one chronic disease with life long medication. The society must, therefore, place an emphasis on the value, importance and respectability to its elders so that they do not feel isolated and withdrawn.
How would it look like that a senior citizen who has retired from the government service is asked to “parade” before a government authority that he or she was alive? A recent circular issued by the state government of Jammu and Kashmir appearing in news papers advises the pension holders drawing pensions as retired employees, to follow the procedure of ” once a year physical verification” by “presenting in person” before the treasury officer to ensure “entitlement to pension ” being in order. This is without prejudice to the authority of the government to preempt any chances of fraud or any irregularity while making payment of pension to the retiree employees but the method of identification adopted is not only troublesome and redundant but also impractical. This whole exercise could be done very easily and with cent percent accuracy if
(a) On any one day during a year, preferably around the date of superannuation, a pension holder could prove his “continued eligibility”, instead of all pensioners asked to do the same in a month or so.
(b) Instead of parading before the treasury officer, the pensioner could do it all at the Bank itself at ease where he or she is having the account.
(c) Under “Know your customer” (KYC) norms, all details about the account holder (pensioner) with the Bank are full and foolproof, and a mere walk into the bank branch by the pensioner could do all that what the government circular under reference is aiming at.
(d) A monthly or quarterly statement could go from the Bank to the Finance Department/ Chief Treasury Officer listing about the number of cases where physical verification took place.
(e) The Bank maintains very close rapport with its clients in person, through phones, letters and otherwise and could ensure “physical verification” not only once a year but many times a year. A close liaison of the treasury authorities and the Banks in the matter could make the process easy, affordable, hassle less and practicable.
It can thus be seen that without causing hardships or any discomfort to the pensioners, the requirement of physical verification can be easily accomplished. Again, those who are on the other side of the fence , must bear in mind that they too have to be on this side one day and for that consideration must change the obsolete ways and devise easy and most convenient methods. Let sunset years of life not turn into any traumatic period, among other things, on account of such hard rules. Let life be put in the years of the elderly instead of years in their life.
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