Suryanarayana (name changed), in his early 70s, gifted an immovable property, the last one in his possession, to the only son living in Patamata of the city a couple of years ago. The septuagenarian never imagined that he would be living the rest of his life fighting to get back his property, the only support he could bank on at the fag end of his life.
After getting hold of the land, the son ignored Suryanarayana forcing him to approach the Maintenance Tribunal. The elderly man reportedly told the Tribunal that he was abandoned by the son and wanted the property back so that he could make money out of it to meet his needs.
By the time the Tribunal took cognizance of the plea and ordered the Kankipadu sub-registrar to cancel the gift deed, the son ‘sold’ it to his wife and claimed it was not possible to reverse the gift deed.
“The case later went to the courts and before a proper hearing, Suryanarayana breathed his last due to illness,” said Mothukuri Venkateswara Rao, organising secretary of the AP Senior Citizens Samakhya and secretary of the Krishna District Senior Citizens Welfare Association.
Mr. Rao was trying to put in a nutshell the plight of senior citizens and the negligence of the government that is supposed to work in the best interests of a helpless old man. Like him, many are facing hardship.
“Society discriminates against senior citizens in the most unfortunate ways. We don’t get the seats allotted for us in the RTC buses, there are no ramps constructed at government offices and public places, and the tribunals procrastinate on the cases filed. All of this is only getting worse by the day,” Mr. Rao, also a Tribunal member, said.
Most of the complaints by senior citizens in the district are about property disputes with their wards. A lot of factors pertaining to change in lifestyle and urbanisation add to their woes, Mr. Rao said.
“Earlier in villages, there was no migration of younger generations to cities. Houses were in huge compounds and the elderly and the ailing members were put up in a special hut where maintenance was easy. Houses and the mindset of people have now become narrow unable to accommodate anything that slows down their fast-paced lives,” he said.
Also, many couples live alone in the city with their wards settling down abroad. The huge number of such couples has earlier prompted the city police department led by A.B. Venkateswara Rao to set up a special cell to attend the calls of lonely senior citizens or their family members in other countries in cases of emergencies.
Guntur
Complaints galore
The telephone at the Andhra Pradesh Senior Citizens Samakhya office at Brodiepet here never stops ringing. The callers are mostly senior citizens left to fend for themselves after allegedly being disowned by their children. All the complaints are of similar nature — abused by the children, deserted by sons and daughters in the evening of their life.
“We get 10 to 15 calls everyday and of these, we find 4 to 5 calls genuine. We are referring the cases to the senior citizens’ maintenance tribunals headed by Revenue Divisional Officers. In some cases, we are directing the complainants to old age homes nearby,’’ says samakhya honorary president Parameswara Reddy.
The number of complaints are only growing in urban areas, which have witnessed a steep rise in property prices in recent years. With the crumbling family values, parents struggle to live in peace in their own homes.
In 2018, the Guntur Urban area witnessed registration of 250 complaints, a steep increase when compared to 22 registered in 2015. More number of senior citizens are now coming forward to register complaints with the police. The senior citizens’ rights for maintenance are now protected under Maintenance and Welfare of Senior Citizens Act-2007, through which senior citizens can file complaints against their children seeking maintenance allowance. Recent amendments to the Act have raised the bar on monthly allowance from ₹10,000.
Cases relating to senior citizens are also referred to District Legal Services Authority.
With many cases landing at police stations, Superintendent of Police, Guntur, Ch. Vijaya Rao has appointed the DSP, SC and ST Cell, as a conciliation officer. The officer is part of the senior citizens maintenance tribunal headed by the Revenue Divisional Officer.
While this is the case in most regions in the State, the city of Guntur has shown the way in addressing some of the issues concerning senior citizens. District Collector Kona Sasidhar has allotted a building for the office of senior citizens with support from HelpAge India. A helpline 0863-297555 has been started to receive complaints. A gym and physiotherapy centre have been set up to provide treatment to senior citizens at minimum charges. Senior citizens are being provided with wheelchairs, hearing aids and spectacles with support from the DRDA.
MACHILIPATNAM
Betrayed by kin
N. Venkatamma (name changed), 80, a mother of seven, including four sons, was supposed to keep herself busy spending time with her grandchildren. She is one of the 20 elderly people abandoned by their families and surviving at the Jetti Narasimha Government Home for Orphans and Physically challenged (JNGHOP) in Machilipatnam.
To her shock, her children succeeded in obtaining a certificate from the revenue authorities, certifying her as an “orphan” to meet the eligibility criteria to get her enrolled in the government orphanage.
All her children abandoned her a year ago, reportedly after they sold a piece of land that belonged to her. “My share in the money raised by selling my land is ₹50,000. They assured me that the amount will be spent to perform my last rites,” says Ms. Venkatamma, who survives on one meal a day.
Waging a battle
The poignant tale of 80-year-old Chilamkurthi Bharatamma is different. A mother of eight children, including four boys, she was disowned by her family and was thrown on the road on a rainy night in September in Machilipatnam. She waged a legal battle by approaching the police. The team of judges assured her reunion with the family as per the existing Acts.
At the peak of alleged abuse and neglect by their family, a couple, K. Ramadasu (90) and Achimamba (80), reportedly committed suicide by consuming pesticide under Musunuru police limits in Krishna district in August, after they were allegedly abandoned by their three children.
According to statistics of the Krishna District Police Grievance Cell, since June 2017, 41 abandoned elders (couples in many cases) lodged complaints with Superintendent of Police, alleging physical abuse and negligence by their families apart from seeking police action for their care and protection.
“The financial condition of the children is said to be the immediate reason for their abandoning a parents. The absence of a system that addresses various stages of the negligence of a elderly people is leading to an increase in such cases. Foremost, the bond between the elders and others is not sound due to various reasons,” observes Krishna SP Sarvasresth Tripathy.
Superintendent of JNGHOP G. Satyanarayana said a majority of the inmates of the orphanage were not actually ‘orphans’.
Most of the children never come to see their parents admitted to the old age home, where the elders wait for their children’s call. Some “abandoned” elderly people said that they do not wish to discuss their tales of sorrow with fellow inmates, as everybody would burst into tears, recollecting the betrayal by their children.
KURNOOL
Many have a tale to tell
Septuagenarian N. Chinnaiah, a retired government employee, and his wife, Annapurna, had the typical dreams shared by persons of their age and stature — owning a decent house, a couple of properties to pass on to their children, performing their marriages, playing with grandchildren, regular pension, etc.
However, the death of the latter and alleged mala fide intentions of his children prompted him to take one of the most unexpected paths in his life. Chinnaiah abandoned all his earthly possessions and chose to spend the rest of his life in an old age home on the outskirts of Kurnool.
“Things turned topsy-turvy after my wife’s death. My children must have realised my diminishing life span and wanted to get the properties transferred in their names. When I resisted, my son turned into a raging alcoholic and daughter-in-law displayed no interest. My daughter’s visits increased with a persistent nagging. Unable to continue the charade nor commit suicide, I divided the rightful share of my properties to my son and daughter and left the home with all my belongings in a suitcase,” remarked a teary-eyed Chinnaiah.
M. Ravanamma (name changed) had a slightly similar story to relate. Upon the death of her husband, her only son allegedly acquired her signatures on property-related documents and abandoned her at the same old age home.
“Many of the inmates display suicidal tendencies, as they are unable to get over the fact that their children or relatives have neglected them in time of need. While some succumb to the extreme step, others develop mental health issues in due course of time. For instance, a 65-year-old woman, was admitted to the old-age home by her son. Assuming that the development was temporary, she used to wait at the porch for her son’s return every day, adamantly, before she was fully consumed by despair, resulting in her untimely death,” remarked Pratap Reddy, who manages an old-age home near Nandikotkur Road.
The recent incident of an elderly couple, who allegedly consumed pesticide before jumping into the Tungabhadra river, was related to their mounting debts with the final nail in the coffin driven by notices from banking institutions.
According to statistics of the A.P. Differently Abled and Senior Citizens Assistance Corporation, there are nearly 15 old age homes, both private and government, across Kurnool district, and officials are roping in several others, yet to be registered, under the department.
“Such institutions receive grants for maintaining the facility and we can also periodically inspect them, to ascertain if things are well,” remarked a senior official in the department.
(With inputs from P. Samuel Jonathan, T. Appala Naidu and B. Venkat Sandeep)
