Confederation to push for SC intervention; urgent need for orientation of officials on laws; advocacy for employment of seniors in cottage industry; call for fitness survey to encourage productive employment
Cooperation Minister Subhash Shirodkar inaugurates the World Elders Day programme organised by the All Goa Senior Citizens’ Federation at the Ravindra Bhavan, Margao.
MARGAO
A host of programmes marked World Elders Day on Tuesday with Margao itself playing host to two programmes to reiterate society’s commitment to look after the welfare of the increasing population of senior citizens.
Issues plaguing the senior citizens, however, seemed far from over. In fact, leave alone the promised benefits; senior citizens anxiously look forward for government’s intervention to implement the Maintenance of Senior Citizens Act, 2007 to tide over issues relating to their basic maintenance.
Vice-President of All India Senior Citizens’ Confederation, Diogo M Da Costa took the platform of the World Elders Day celebration to convey a message loud and clear to the government that the Maintenance Act enacted by the Central government way in 2007 to resolve the problems faced by elders has failed to provide relief to the suffering senior citizens.
“The Maintenance Act 2007 was enacted to give relief to the senior citizens ignored and neglected by their very own children. The Act is not implemented in Goa in both letter and spirit. So many senior citizens are suffering for want of maintenance, but the Act has not come to their rescue for want of proper implementation by the authorities,” Diogo asserted.
In fact, Diogo has called for imparting training through orientation programme for the revenue officials to implement the Maintenance Act. Narrating a chilling instance of an elderly woman staying outside her house, Diogo lamented it is a shame that her petition for maintenance is not disposed of till date.
“Instances are galore that children usurp properties of their parents. They force the parents to sign documents before the Sub Registrars to transfer the property in their names. As a Conciliation officer, I have got such properties reverted back to the name of the parents,” he added.
Saying the situation is no different in the rest of the country, Diogo, who is the vice-president of the All India Senior Citizens’ Confederation, said the Confederation is in the process of knocking the doors of the Supreme Court for implementation of the Act in both letter and spirit.
Diogo also made a fervent plea to the Goa government to explore the possibility of conducting a fitness survey so that senior citizens in the age group of 60-70 years are employed in the cottage industry. “After 60, senior citizens stay at home doing nothing. They face a host of problems and issues. The cottage industry can use the services of senior citizens in a productive way,” he added.
Concerns raised over rise in dementia cases among elderly, govt inaction
MARGAO: Goa Forward chief Vijai Sardesai has expressed concern over the rising number of dementia cases amongst the elderly population in the State and State’s failure to come up with a proposal to tackle the situation.
Taking the platform of the World Elders Day to highlight the issue of dementia amongst senior citizens, Sardesai said he had raised the issue on the floor of the House, but the government seemed not yet serious to face the challenge posed by dementia. “The government needs to come out with a support system for dementia patients. The situation is bad in instances of working couple and they have elderly parents affected by dementia,” he said.
The Goa Forward chief said the government’s failure to implement the Maintenance Act in both letter and spirit only goes to show the respect it has for the elderly population. “The society is judged by the respect we pay to the elders. If we do not give them proper treatment, that would only show the status of our society. I am shocked to hear the senior citizens demanding orientation programme to train the revenue officers to handle maintenance cases,” he lamented.
Minister seeks Statewide health survey to address seniors issues
MARGAO: Cooperation Minister Subhash Shirodkar has called for conducting a health survey to compile data about the health of the State’s population.
Speaking at the World Elders Day organised by the All Goa Senior Citizens Federation at Margao, the Minister said the survey should be conducted across the State to identify the people suffering from various ailments and issues. “I had conducted a health camp in my constituency wherein we could get a picture of the number of people suffering from diabetes, pressure issue, joint pain, etc. Such a survey will give an insight into the problems and issues faced by the senior citizens and help to come out with solutions,” he said.
He added: “Such a health survey is ideal in a small State like Goa, which plays host to around 16 lakh population. It will help to find out whether we fit into the various health parameters.”
Saying that the scenario is changing in Goa, the Minister said elderly parents are left alone with children moving abroad and out of Goa for employment. “There may be around 10,000 persons, who might have migrated abroad for the purpose of employment. Thousands of youth have gone out to other parts of the country such as Mumbai, Pune, Bengaluru, etc for employment. The issues faced by senior citizens needs to be addressed,” Shirodkar added.
In his address, former Chief Minister and Margao MLA, Digambar Kamat has said the organisations fighting for the rights of senior citizens deserve help and assistance from the society. “They are taking up issues in the interests of the elderly ignored and neglected by their children. During my visits to the old age homes, I come across familiar faces spending their last days in the homes for want of care and maintenance by their children,” Kamat said.
