Mathew Cherian, the former chief executive of HelpAge India, talks about senior care in the country and the way ahead.
The International Day of Older Persons, is observed every year, on October 1. What is the significance of such a day?
The United Nations wanted to observe this day as no one was paying attention to older people. On December 14, 1990, the United Nations General Assembly voted to establish October 1 as the International Day of Older Persons. For 30 years we have been observing this day. But we lack a convention for rights of older people. The only soft law we have is MIPAA, which is a comprehensive action plan for governments and civil society, amongst other groups, for building a society for all ages. It is only an obligatory soft law. In India, even though we have a policy for older people but the implementation is poor. So this day is to highlight that older people exist and they also need attention. The UN Secretary General gives a message to older people. Several events are organised on this day and it brings media attention on the plight of the elderly.
As compared to some of the Western Nations, how do we treat our elderly?
In India, I would say around 70 percent of the elderly are taken care of by their families. There could be a certain amount of neglect here and there but generally they are with family and better off than most other countries. But, the rest 30 percent are destitute, who don’t have any caregivers. In India, this is a huge number as it’s around four crore people. With Covid-19, they are in a very high-risk category. The current pandemic has increased the mental health problems among them. Both the civil society and the government needs to work together to help this segment of our population. We can’t ignore them.
How can we make our senior citizens inclusive so they feel as productive part of the society?
Many elder self-help groups are being formed in villages and cities. We are making communities who can sustain themselves. We have to move from the family care to community care. Older people can form associations that can be supported by younger people and it can create windows of change. The self-help groups can bring on some social enterprise and help in building the local economy. This could be the beginning of a change. This way, post retirement, people can stay active. It’s the second demographic dividend by which these people can contribute. Each older person can do lot for the community. Take for instance the Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs) which are mostly are run by older people. They efficiently look at the smooth functioning of residential colonies.
How has Covid-19 affected the philanthropic work of organizations towards this segment?
Covid-19 has impacted old age homes in many ways. Philanthropic activities have gone down. Many old age homes survived because of donations. Now those donations have dropped drastically. These institutions are surviving with very little money. HelpAge India gave rations for one month to many but the pandemic has gone on for while now. We should have given at least six months of rations but we are also facing difficulty in raising money. In India, we have a total of one lakh old age homes and the government supports only 3000. It is going to be tough as even the CSR money from corporate houses is now going to the PM Cares Fund. The situation is grim.
You retired as the chief executive from HelpAge India recently? What keeps you busy now?
I am on the board of several NGOs like Care India and Water Aid. I am also working with Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to build a new stock exchange for the social sector. I am on their committee. Also, I am working on setting up an Institute of Ageing in Delhi which will do lot of training activities for the elderly. I am on the taskforce of the Association of Senior Living India (ASLI) to set up standards for senior homes in India. I am also with the CII task force for senior care.