Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on Sunday made a strong case for joint family system, saying in its absence children were showing a tendency to send their parents to old-age homes.
“Sixty years ago, there were no old-age homes, because of the existence of the joint family system. Today, the situation has come to such a pass that even the government is running old-age homes,” she said while presiding over 64 marriages organised in connection with her 64 birthday, falling later this week.
Ms Jayalalithaa said some people were leading a life that forgot the dictum “unity is strength” and “a life of togetherness would bring in umpteen benefits.”
“These people leave the country in pursuit of higher education and settle there after job and marriage. In the process, they not only forget their parents, who sacrificed everything to provide them higher education in foreign countries, but also their motherland. This has resulted in a pathetic situation in which parents are forced to live in old-age homes,” she said.
Ms Jayalalithaa said the priority had shifted today to making money; love and attachment to their families and relatives were no longer the main concern.
“Of course, money is necessary. But you must understand that money alone is not life,” she said, advising the newly-wed to keep in mind the sacrifices made by their parents to bring them up and show love and respect to them.
Ms Jayalalithaa also used the imagery of a garden with fully grown trees, withstanding storms and strong winds by standing together, to reiterate the virtue of unity in families.
“They may look like independent trees. But beneath the soil their roots are intertwined. This togetherness protects the trees from storm and gale,” she explained.
Ms Jayalalithaa said her government would provide all the facilities for old people in the state.
She also called upon her partymen to prepare themselves immediately for the next Lok Sabha polls so that all the 40 seats in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry could be won by the party.
Earlier, Finance Minister O. Panneerselvam said even people from other states were longing to see Ms Jayalalithaa as the next Prime Minister.
The mass marriage was organised by Puratchi Thalaivi Peravai and its secretary T.R. Anbazhagan. All the newly wed were given 64 types of bridal gifts, besides four gram gold thali and silk saris and dhotis.