“I do not like to go out. When I have to, it is a necessary evil.”
“I don’t like to go to the bank, post office or market. These places are too crowded and I feel uncomfortable there.”
Past research has pointed to a significant amount of elder abuse taking place at home over a variety of reasons, be it property dispute or a perceived financial or emotional burden. However, the 2017 ‘How India Treats its Elderly’ report released by HelpAge India throws light on the fact that the elderly are not free from some kind of abuse in public spaces too.
The report covered 19 cities and 53% of the 4,615 elders interviewed admitted to feeling discriminated against. Furthermore, 61% said people get impatient with them as they are slow, while 52% said people are rude to them if they are not well-dressed.
Sixteen percent of the responders said they have been subjected to rude behaviour from conductors and drivers while using public transport. However, two in three also said they were offered seats regularly.
On service delivery points, a significant proportion of the elders reported rude behaviour from the service delivery person. Post office staff (19%), public hospital staff (12%) and bank staff (13%) were the main offenders.
Many elders also complained of rudeness even at points of commercial transaction, like chemists and vegetable vendors for instance. In fact, 54% of the elders said younger people get priority over them in shops. Mall staff turned out to be top offenders (17%) here.
Not all doom and gloom
However, the report also had some positive findings. A large proportion of elders said they receive good treatment at private hospitals when compared to public hospitals. In the public space, 65% of the elders were offered seat in bus, 57% received special treatment from bank staff, and 70% got proper attention at hospitals.
Rekha Murthy, deputy director and Karnataka head, HelpAge India, said this was indicative of elders becoming more sensitive and aware of what is abuse, and thus becoming more open to complaining about it.
Director General and Inspector General of Police R.K. Dutta, who released the report, said: “People and organisations working for the betterment of senior citizens should join hands with the police to prevent harassment.”
Bengaluru among the worst
Is the country’s IT capital ageist? With nearly 70% of the responders admitting to experiencing abuse in society, Bengaluru turned out to be the worst perpetrator of elder abuse.
It was followed by Hyderabad (60%), Guwahati (59%), Kolkata (52%), Chennai (49%) and Mumbai (33%).
Bengaluru’s notorious traffic made 73% of the elders feel unsafe on its roads because of the behaviour of vehicle users. This was far higher than those in Lucknow (66%), Mumbai (59%) and New Delhi (45%).
When it came to bank staff behaving badly to elders, Bhubaneswar topped the list with 21%, followed by Mumbai (19%), Chennai (18%), and Hyderabad and Bengaluru (both 16%). Hyderabad had the poorest record in elders experiencing bad behaviour from post office staff (39%). It is followed by Chennai (21%), Bengaluru (20%), and Guwahati (19%).
New Delhi came first in ill-treatment of elders by government hospital staff (26%), followed by Bengaluru with 22%.
The percentage of elders who had received some kind of bad treatment from other customers in queues while paying utility bills was highest in Hyderabad (32%). Chennai (22%), Bengaluru (16%) and Bhubaneswar (14%) followed.
However, 29% of the survey respondents complained of not being treated well by chemists in Bengaluru, which was the second highest percentage after Bhubaneswar.
Even vegetable vendors in Bengaluru do not seem to treat the city’s elders well, with 29% of the elders reporting bad treatment. In ill-treatment by mall staff, Bhubaneswar was the worst (31%), followed again by Bengaluru (27%).
But Bengaluru fared better than many other cities in holding offenders accountable. In Bhubaneswar, 92% of the respondents said it was easy for rude offenders to get away with their act. It was followed by Guwahati (85%), Lucknow (78%), Hyderabad (74%), Bengaluru (71%), Chennai (64%), Kolkata (62%), and Mumbai (61%). The figure was, surprisingly, lowest in New Delhi (16 %).
