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The Association of Senior Citizens of HyderabadLions Club of Twin Cities G.S. Binjrajka Trust

Day Care Centre for Elders(Registration Number: 1435/2003--Affiliated to All India Senior Citizens' Confederation)

Lions Bhavan, 2nd floor, Paradise Circle [Behind HDFC Bank],Secunderabad

Website: http://aosc-h.weebly.com

Awardee of All IndiaTrophy for Best Community Service for the year 2003-04 by AISCCONAwardee of Best Senior Citizens Association in Andhra Pradesh in 2013 b Govt. of A.P.

Chairman:

Sri RN Mital

Mob: 9052004913

President:

Sri I M Bhalla

Mob: 98492 44480

Vice Presidents:

Sri M Lingamurthy

Mob: 99892 78440

Sri V C Dalal

Mob: 93962 12593

Secretary:

Sri Chepuri Shankar Rao

Mob: 98484 30914

Joint Secretary :

Sri A Chandra Guptha

Mob: 98492 43652

Treasurer:

Smt Y. Pushpalatha

Mob: 73821 782220

MCMembers:

Dr T Ramalingam

Sri Rajalingam

Sri CS. Gopalakrishna

Sri A Suryanarayana

Sri MN Guptha

Smt N Neelaveni

Co-opted Members:

Smt Tripta Sawhney

Sri Linga Reddy

SriR Shyamsunder Rao

Ex-Officio President:

Dr. P. VyasamoorthyMob: 9490804278

Advisor:

Prof. V. Visweswaraiah

An Open Letter

To our Respected Prime Minister,

Sri Narendra Modi

While the entire Country is celebrating two years of your dynamicand forward looking Government and appreciating the change which

is taking place, the 11.5 crore elders(60+) are feeling ignored and

marginalized. About a year ago you had declared that it is the ethos

of our Country to respect the elders and to revere them. We had felt

highly reassured

But today the ground realities are very different. Out of 11.5 crore

elders 73% are illiterate and poor almost falling in the BPL category,

of them 70% live in rural areas. Sir, it is estimated that out of them

51 % are so poor that they sleep every night with empty stomach.

They can not afford two square meals a day. They are generally the

retirees of the unorganized sector of our economy which generates

62% of our GDP. They thus produce major part of our wealth when

they are young but starve when they become old. There has been

no improvement in their plight during the last two years. Sir, when

the retirees from the organized sector are paid a minimum pension

of RS.3500 to 4000 per month, why retirees f rom unorganized sector

who contribute major part of our wealth , be not paid also the same

amount? They are paid a paltry amount of RS.200 per month. Our

repeated representations in this regard have remained

unacknowledged.

It is depressing to note that internationally our Country is considered

to be about the least friendly to grow old. According to a UN funded

study India was ranked a poor 73 out of the 91 countries sampled.

India's ranking is woefully low compared to even our neighbours in

South East Asia such as Sri Lanka, Thailand, Indonesia etc. and is

closer toAfghanistan which scored lowest at 91.

Currently there are an estimated 11.5 crore elderly in India by 2050,

they are expected to reach 32.6 crore. This segment of population is

growing bigger and bigger and yet getting poorer and poorer due to

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Out of 11.5 crore elders .around 85 lakh are the oldest old that is 80+. Their number is

increasing at the fastest rate and they are the most vulnerable. Majority of them suffer with

terminal diseases and one disability or the other. More than two third of them arefinancially

dependent on others and 80.6% of them have complained of being abused, ill-treated and/or

tortured. In some families they are even considered to be a burden both physically and

financially. According to media reports scores of disabled, terminally ill elders are abandoned

daily on railway stations, temples or hospitals or simply put to sleep (Thalaikoothal inTamil

Nadu) by their family members.

We have brought all this to your kind notice only to emphasize that all is not well with the

elders of our Country. While you have put India on the path to prosperity, this segment of

society isstill suffering indifference and neglect both in the States and th'e Centre. We submit

a few glaring examples of the indifference towards them..

1]National Policy on Older Persons 1999 (NPOP-99) - More than 16 years have passed since

it was announced, yet it has remained largely unimplemented. Only 9 States & UT's haveadopted it fully or partially; remaining 27 States have not bothered about it blaming lack of

resources. Implementation of various welfare measures for Senior Citizens such as affordable

shelter and health care, personal security, prevention of elder abuse, multi purpose daycare

centers, geriatric wards in hospitals, shelter for the abandoned etc require funds and their

development is held up because of lack of adequate budgetary support both bythe Centre and

States.

2] Reviewed NPOP - In 2010 the Government at the Centre decided to bring out a more

comprehensive updated Policy and a review Committee was appointed. The reviewed Policy

was ceremonially submitted to the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment (MOSJE) on

31st March 2011. Since then, unfortunately, it is just gathering dust inthe offices of Govt. ofIndia. It only shows the indifference in our Country towards elders.

3] National Commission for Senior Citizens- NPOP-99 has recommended setting up of such a

Commission which will go a long way in solving many problems of the elderly. The earlier

Government accepted our demand for it. The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment

prepared its draft constitution during the later part of 2013 and circulated it for comments. It

was shelved when the new Government took over causing grE~atdiappointment among the

elders.

4] The National Council of Senior Citizens - It was constituted by MOSJE according to therecommendations in NPOP-99 and as per the existing practice since year 1999. It was duly

gazetted yet It is not functioning f or more than two years though it is supposed to meet at least

twice in a year.. It was the forum where the problems of senior citizens could be discussed at

the ministerial level at the Centre, we are now deprived of that possibility.

5] Extremely inadequate Old Age Pension to BPL Senior Citizens- They are being provided a

ridiculously low monthly pension of RS.200 for 60 to 80 yrs age group and RS.500 for 80+

under Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pension Scheme with minimum of same amount to be

added by the State.

Sir, youwill be surprised that 5 major States contribute just nothing to the Old Age pensionwhile 12 contribute much less than the minimum of even Rs 200. Moreover, this pension

reaches only 22% of the eligibles. It can'be visualized that even if stipulated Rs.400 are paid

what the elderly person can do with this amount. It is a mockery of human rights. Our Country

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spends just 0.032% of GDP on the welfare of the elderly while most of the other Countries,

even smaller and with weaker economy spend 3 to 8 times more on their elders.

A few States are paying more on their own higher amount say Rs500 or Rs1 000 per month but

have generally imposed such other conditions that the advantage is neutralized.

6] Health Security- Senior Citizens are'prone to age related health problems - The NPOP 99

has recommended that to provide health security they should be covered under a universal

health insurance scheme. Much hype was generated about the National Programme for Health

Care for Elders launched by the previous Government.5 years have passed and it is said to be

operating in only in 13 districts out of600 in our Country.

A Health Insurance scheme which is being mooted is RSBY which offers a floater cover o f Rs.

30,000 for a family of 5. This amount can hardly cover any health problem. Moreover, due to

restriction of 5 members per family the grand parents are likely to be left out.

6] It has been noted that in most of the Old Age Homes for the indigent, the inmates are

deprived of their basic Human Rights namely right to vote, to receive old age pension, and

health care as often they do not have proof of identity. It is so because usually they are the

abandoned ones. This clearly violates their basic human right.

7] Maintenance & Welfare of Parents & Senior Citizens Act 2007 - The incidence of abuse

against Senior Citizens is increasing at an alarming rate, The MWPSC Act 2007 can to some

extent help in curbing this emerging social evil. Though it was enacted 9 years ago yet it has

been operationalised so far only in 19 states; even there its provisions are not fully utilized

because of lack of awareness in the community. We are informed that the now defunct

Planning Commission had allotted RS.200 crores for publicizing it which grant has beenwithdrawn.

The mandates in the Act have not been implemented by any State such as a)Old Age Home in

each district with a capacity of 150 elders, b)Sensitizing the police and judiciary regarding the

protection of life and property of the elderly, c)Establishing medical facilities, to allocate hospital

beds and creating a geriatric wards inall the General hospitals at district headquarters etc.

8] The proposal to set up two Research Units on Ageing remains suspended after decision

regarding their location etc had been taken.

9] Another example of gross neglect of elders - MOSJE which is responsible for the welfare of

senior citizens, spends 8.71 % of its budget on Disabled welfare who are just 2.19% of total

population while it spends only 1.69% of its budget on senior citizens who form more than 9%

of population. Partisan and neglectful attitude towards senior citizens can not be exposed

better

10] Sir, it has been claimed on behalf of your Government that most of the promises made

during the Elections have been fulfilled, whatever few are left will be fulfilled during the

remaining 3 years. We are reproducing below the promises made by BJP in the Manifesto for

you to kindly judge which of them have already been fulfilled and which our Governmen

proposes to fulfill during the years to come,

"BJP is committed to the welfare of senior citizens, especially their security and health care.

We will take measures to deal with the issues related to the senior citizens in a focused

manner.

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SJPwill:

Provide financial support, exploring ideas like additional tax benefits and higher

interest rates.

Invest in setting up and improving old-age homes.

Harness their experience in the National Interest. Devise schemes and programs to

engage the senior citizens as volunteers / part time workers in various developmentprogrammes of the government, in urban and rural areas. This will not only help in

utilizing their time, but also it would be an effective utilization of their experience and

may add an additional source of income for them"

Sir, if we mention all issues of the marginalized elderly, the letter will become too long. We

have mentioned a few just to show to you that the policies governing this segment need your

personal intervention. The elders who are often called the builders of the Present, feel today

ignored and neglected

We particularly like to bring to your kind notice our humble submission that the policy of

Federal system of governance under which the welfare of senior citizens has been made theresponsibility of States, perhaps requires rethinking or some amendment. Most of the States

are more likely to award welfare measures to groups more on the basis.of their vote garnering

potential than merit.

Elders only want an environment where they can live a purposeful life with dignity and one

which enables them to contribute to the best of their ability to the progress of our Country.

With highest regards,

Yours respectfully,

--v--/'J

R.N.~

Chairman

~i .

~/ "-'

I.M. Shalla

President

(Dr) P. Vyasamoorthy

Imm. Past President

CC to - Hon'ble Shri Rajnath Singh, Union Minister for Home Affairs,

Hon'ble Shri Arun Jaitley, Union Minister for Finance,

Hon'bleShri T.C.Gehlot, Union Minister for Social Justice & EmpowermentShri Amit Shah, President, BJP

Shri D.N. Chapke, President, All India Senior Citizens' Confederation,

Dr. Sajjan Singh, Chairoerson, Indian Society of Universities of 3rd Age

Sri. J. R. Gupta, Executive Chairperson, Indian Society of Universities of 3rd Age