The Hindu : Opinion / Letters to the Editor : Caring for the old

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Dec 19, 2007
ePaper

Opinion

Opinion - Letters to the Editor

Caring for the old

The editorial “A duty that cannot be abdicated” (Dec. 11) is right in concluding that what senior citizens really require is a tight social security net in order to live with the grace and dignity they deserve. But this cannot be achieved by legislation alone. We have to start from the beginning, that is, by educating children, adolescents and even young adults on their duty to look after their parents in their old age. Love, not legislation, should bind children and parents.

Those who have read Gandhiji’s autobiography will recall how the story of Shravan’s devotion for his blind parents inspired him and contributed to the evolution of his personality. The theory of trusteeship adumbrated by the Mahatma and exemplified by C. Rajagopalachari, Jayaprakash Narain and many other Gandhians of a bygone era is sure to help if understood and taught in schools.

K. Vedamurthy,

Chennai

* * *

The Maintenance of the Welfare of Parents and other Senior Citizens Bill will immensely help the elderly, especially those who are poor. Although it is the duty and moral responsibility of the young to take care of their parents in their twilight years, we find that some are callous and irresponsible.

The legislation is primarily aimed at making this recalcitrant lot responsible towards their parents. It is equally important to enforce the law. Otherwise, its very purpose will be defeated.

J.S. Acharya,

Hyderabad

* * *

Imposition and compulsion of any kind will lead to a clash of ideas, which will make the lives of senior citizens worse. In most middle class families, parents spend the prime years of their lives thinking about securing the future of their children.

They deserve their children’s support in their old age. The urge to serve parents should be innate. If imposed on youngsters, it will lead to disastrous consequences.

Ruchi Jha,

New Delhi

* * *

To love and take care of parents should be a natural instinct of children and should not be forced on them by law. We have laws dealing with dowry, child labour and the like. Have the crimes been eliminated?

Values of love, affection and respect for parents should be inculcated both at home and school. This will lead to children taking care of their parents in their old age.

C. Ranganarayanan,

Chennai

* * *

For those employed in the unorganised sector with marginal wages, saving for old age is next to impossible. The plight of the salaried class is no better. The expenses incurred by those in employment on the education and marriage of their children, and buying a house leave them with insufficient funds after retirement. The problem has no easy solution.

There is no doubt that the young should take care of their parents. But the law providing for the imprisonment of those who do not is ridiculous. It will only lead to the aged parents being burdened with the additional responsibility of looking after the wife and children of the jailed son. Long-term planning on the part of everyone can be the only sure remedy to the problem.

I.S. Kanthimathinathan,

Tirunelveli

* * *

The law will be difficult to implement. We have seen many old people getting admitted to the old-age home run by us, based on false information given by them and their children. On one occasion, a man brought an old woman along saying she was a servant and was no longer able to work. The woman too said the same thing. After admitting her, we discovered that the man was her son.

She pleaded with us not to send her back as her son’s house was hell for her. The son never came back to see her. In many cases, the sons and daughters do not turn up even when their parents pass away. When this is the reality, I am not sure how the law is going to change things. If the old are kept at home just to comply with the law, it will only create more problems for them.

V. Muralidharan,

Thiruninravur

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Opinion

News Update

Stories in this Section

Multilateralism’s promise

Year of the Tiger

A philosophy of judicial restraint statecraft

Who wants to be Prime Minister?

British domestic politics dictated handover

Fair giving is hardwired

What role for the academic literary critic?

Corrections and clarifications

A challenge

On judicial overreach

Caring for the old