Month: February 2015

India spends mere 0.032 percent of GDP on senior citizen: Study

State of India’s Elderly-2014As per the ‘State of India’s Elderly-2014’ report by HelpAge India, the country has 100 million elderly and by 2050 the figure is likely to triple to 324 million.

“But there are not enough dependable community support systems matching this growth,” said Mathew Cherian, Chief Executive Officer of HelpAge.

Justice Leila Seth, Chief Guest at the occasion, said “neglect, poverty and isolation” were the major issues affecting the elderly people.

“The elderly population is subjected to neglect and isolation. Losing one’s dignity can harm you more than ageing. Lack of love can be a bigger evil than lack of laws to protect you.

“Though elderly continue to face troubles across various strata, the problem worsens when poverty is thrown in,” she said.

The report also talked about the need for an effective pension system. “We have been fighting to regulate the pension system nationally with the introduction of universal pension, but it is a long road ahead vis a vis implementation,” said Cherian.

“We have approached Finance Minister Arun Jaitley for the budgetary support to the segment ahead of the Budget Session,” he said.

The report states that the ongoing National Programme for Health Care for Elderly is being implemented in only 13 out of the around 600 districts of the country.

Read the original article here.

 

Oldest women (born in the 1800s)

Oldest Women
We can all agree that it’s a great feat to live to be 100 — but it’s an even greater feat if you live well, well past it. Believe it or not, the five oldest people in the world today were all born in the 1800s! These supercentenarians, as they’re called, have lived through world wars, the sinking of the Titanic, the space race and much much more.

Read the original article here.

https://www.huffingtonpost.in/entry/worlds-oldest-people-1800s-secrets-to-long-life_n_6655570?ri18n=true )

 

The old serve the young

The old serve the young

In a role reversal, a few seniors in Besant Nagar are caring for youngsters. L. KANTHIMATHI on their initiatives in The Hindu.

We tend to picture senior citizens as helpless and leaning heavily on others. And therefore, we are surprised when we see them serve people considerably younger than themselves.

And I should admit I was more than surprised to discover such a group of seniors in Besant Nagar.
Senior Citizens Group of Besant Nagar, founded in 2012, collects and distributes books to college students. Chandrasekhar, honorary president of the forum, says, “We sent a press release about our initiative to neighbourhood tabloids and made a few calls — that’s all it took to get started. Many came forward to donate their books. Many students from families with low incomes came to receive these free books.”

To read more go here.

https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-downtown/the-old-serve-the-young/article6843366.ece#.VM2sJOsYGfE.gmail )