Source: newindianexpress | Image Courtesy:newindianexpress

According to many reports and statistics, India is not the most friendly nation for the elderly. The following story adds strength to the statistics. An elderly woman crawls 2kms to avail her old age pension. Deserted by her husband and two elderly sons, 65-year-old Rudana is staying alone, and has no support of her of relatives either. In order to receive Rs300, she has to crawl to the panchayat office crossing NH-55 to collect her pension money that feeds her for the next month. The administration has not taken any efforts despite her request to send the pension to her home. “I had appealed on several occasions that I cannot walk as my condition does not permit me and my pension may be delivered at home. The pleas went unheard and I have to drag myself the distance to get this,” said Rudana. “There is no provision to deliver pension at the doorstep if there are legal heirs. We will find out if anybody can collect the money on her behalf,” said Athmallik Sub-Collector Amulya Panda.

There are two things which deserve attention of our beloved readers
1.) The apathy of the administration – These issues continue to persist as these issues somehow have not caught the attention of the public imagination and debate. The governments have addressed these issues as we as a society have failed to raise our voices for our elderly. The Logical Indian appeals to our beloved community members to raise these issues in as many platforms as they could. As the voices grow the government and administration have the capability to fix this. In our country the question has not been about whether the government can do or not, it all boils down to the willingness to do it, the need to do it when people do not really consider this as an issue.

2.) The apathy of the younger generation – Not long ago we used to take pride in the way we love our family, the way we take care of them, there has been a marked change on that front. As in the above-mentioned story where children have abandoned her, there are more stories coming out every day on how children have distanced themselves from parents. Our parents are perhaps our treasure we should preserve and be grateful for. Let us love them, embrace them and savour every moment we spend with them. They were with us when we didn’t know to talk or walk, the children have to be with them when they are not able to walk. There are no moral alternatives to this argument.