As the abandonment of elderly ill persons by families is seeing a perceptible increase, particularly with the onset of winter season, volunteers working in rescue complain that assistance from officials is often inadequate.
They point out that the abandonment of elders follow a pattern every year, with the numbers going up between November and February.
“Generally, many families today consider it a burden to look after the elderly due to socio-economic factors. It becomes even more difficult during winter when changes in climatic conditions worsen the illness of the elders,” said V.P. Manikandan, one of the volunteers.
He claimed that he and some of his friends have rescued four people in December alone, including one elderly man from a crematorium near Appanthirupathi on Tuesday. “These are instances that somehow came to our knowledge through our friends network. There will be many that never come to light,” he added.
A businessman who helps with such rescue efforts, speaking on anonymity, said that while reporting of such cases was one part of the problem, the other part was rescue.
“We rarely get assistance from Red Cross since they also complain of resource limitations. Even if they rescue, they elders are just admitted in Government Rajaji Hospital and no follow-ups are done later,” he said.
He added that even the homes of the elderly available in the district are always full and they are better equipped only to take care of the elderly who are healthy.
R. Balagurusamy, Managing Trustee of Nethravathi Pain and Palliative Care Centre, where many of these rescued elders are admitted, said that problem also arise in taking responsibility in the eventuality of something going wrong.
“If we admit them and they they unfortunately die, it may become a legal issue for us,” he said.
He added that officials should instead intervene first in recording the incident with the local police station and then hand it to centres like Nethravathi.
Mr. Manikandan pointed out that The Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, which ought to have taken care of such issues, remained only in paper.
“There should at least be a help line that the public can use to report such cases of abandonment so that all the incidents get reported first,” he said.
Acknowledging some lacunae in the rescue, a senior official from the Social Welfare Department here, however, said that the cases brought to their knowledge are always rescued and admitted to one of the four homes for elderly in the district.
“There are plans to expand the facilities so that more could be accommodated,” the official added.
