The Association of Senior Citizens of Hyderabad

Lions 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 India Trophy for Best Community Service for the year 2003-04 by AISCCON
Awardee of Best Senior Citizens Association in Andhra Pradesh in 2013 b Govt. of A.P.

An Open Letter
To our Respected Prime Minister,
Sri Narendra Modi

Chairman:

Sri RN Mital
Mob: 9052004913
President:

Sri I M Bhalla
Mob: 98492 44480

While the entire Country is celebrating two years of your dynamic

and 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

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

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 to Afghanistan which scored lowest at 91.

Co-opted Members:

Smt Tripta Sawhney

Sri Linga Reddy
Sri R Shyamsunder

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 from 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.

Rao

Ex-Officio President:

Dr. P. Vyasamoorthy
Mob: 9490804278
Advisor:

Prof. V. Visweswaraiah

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

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 are financially
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 in Tamil
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 is still 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 (N POP-99) - More than 16 years have passed since
it was announced, yet it has remained largely unimplemented. Only 9 States & UT's have
adopted 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 by the 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 in the offices of Govt. of
India. 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 the
recommendations in NPOP-99 and as per the existing practice since year 1999. It was duly
gazetted yet It is not functioning for 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, you will be surprised that 5 major States contribute just nothing to the Old Age pension
while 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

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 of 600 in our Country.
A Health Insurance scheme which is being mooted is RSBY which offers a floater cover of 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 been
withdrawn.
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 in all 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.

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 development
programmes 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 the
responsibility 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

~i

~/
R.N.~
Chairman

"-'

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 & Empowerment
Shri 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