Punjabi families don’t look after their elders nor does the Punjab government.
These are findings of a HelpAge India study released on Monday. The study was conducted in eight districts of Punjab, Haryana, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, which were selected due to the large number of cases filed under the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007, a pioneering law meant for the welfare of the elderly.
“We wanted to get a 360-degree view on this law, its working at the ground level, and understand how it was being implemented in the states,” said Mathew Cherian, chief executive officer of HelpAge India.
The study, which selected the districts of Ludhiana and Amritsar due to the large number of cases filed there, found Punjab had the highest number of petitioners in the age group of 80-plus compared to only 9% in Haryana.
Most cases of physical abuse were also reported from Punjab.
Almost 70% of the cases in Punjab and Kerala were filed against sons, while in Tamil Nadu, Haryana and Kerala, 21% of the cases were against daughters. Most of the cases were filed at the office of the sub-divisional magistrate. The maintenance-related petitions were the highest in Punjab, while property-related petitions were high in both Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
Half of the elderly surveyed reported experiencing abuse. The perpetrators were none other than their own offspring. 83% of the petitioners had already transferred their immovable property in favour of their children.
Almost 57% of the elderly attributed the reason for filing the petition to neglect by children (in Punjab, Haryana and Kerala), while 36% said they were propelled by physical abuse and mental torture (in Kerala and Tamil Nadu).
Bhavneshwar Sharma, the state head for Punjab, Haryana and J&K, said Punjab has one of the lowest old age pensions in the country — it’s been recently revised to Rs 750 a month. Himachal Pradesh and Haryana provide old age pension of Rs 1,200 and Rs 1,600 a month, respectively.
Both Punjab and Haryana lack an old age policy, which entails a home for the aged in every district. As of now, Punjab has only one state-sponsored home for the elderly in Hoshairpur.
HelpAge has two homes in Patiala and Gurdaspur with 37 residents, who are housed free of cost.
