‘65% elderly neglected by kin’

A recent study says rights of many elderly have been violated

Almost two-thirds of the elderly in India are neglected by their family, while one-third are subjected to physical or verbal violence even as they struggle to keep up with the changing social milieu and challenges pertaining to their health and financial well-being, said a study conducted by the Agewell Foundation.

The study “Human Rights of Elderly in India: A Critical Reflection on Social Development”, which was released on Thursday, interviewed 5,000 elderly people across India in June. The findings of the study point to how the human rights of a vast majority of the elderly have been compromised.

Almost two-thirds of the respondents (65.2 per cent) claimed that they were neglected, while over half (54 per cent) said they faced abuse. One-third (33.8 per cent) of those surveyed said they had suffered physical and verbal domestic violence at home.

The elderly also complained of being exploited financially or being subjected to some other form of crime by those known to them.

With the family size increasing and the cost of living rising, the elderly are increasingly being seen as a financial burden.

Among the 54 per cent who claimed to be facing abuse, almost 90 per cent attributed it to financial reasons.

Founder Chairman of the Agewell Foundation, Himanshu Rath, said: “Ageing is part of life, but in India it has come to be associated with declining health, loss of independence, shrinking of social roles, isolation, a feeling of loneliness, economic hardship, and worse, being labelled or stigmatized as a burden on the family and society.”

He said the objective of the study was to understand the changes people see as they grow old and to see how these impact their lives at an age when they are increasingly dependent upon others.

With life expectancy increasing and better health facilities becoming available, more and more elderly people want to work, but are unable to do so.

The “lack of gainful engagement opportunities” was cited as the biggest problem by many of the elderly (22.2 per cent) as their biggest problem.

They ranked it higher than “declining health status” (21.24 per cent) and “lack of respect in family or society” (18 per cent) which are also among the sore points for the elderly.

While there are many schemes being run for their welfare, only 15.2 per cent of the respondents claimed that some provisions for old age healthcare existed. The others reportedly did not have access to it.

The study concluded that in the absence of any institutional care system, the elderly in India have to depend on community care or family care.

“Simply put, the better off they were socially and financially, the less was their suffering,” said the report.