The Hindu : Opinion / Letters to the Editor : Care of the aged

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Thursday, Dec 20, 2007
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Opinion - Letters to the Editor

Care of the aged

I refer to the spate of reactions to the bill seeking to provide social security to senior citizens. Parents belonging to the salaried class and the well-to-do need no protection as they have enough to fall back on. It is unethical to expect children to take care of their parents in their old age in return for the education they provided to them. Family values are not commercial transactions. The poor who need aid for sustenance can be taken care of by the state or social service organisations. Legislation will not solve the problem. The best course of action is to leave it to society.

S.R. Akella,

Cheepurupalle

* * *

Many people have said parents should be looked after by their children in the old age. They do not see the other side of the picture.

People from poor families want many children not on account of love. For them, more children mean more money. The rich and the middle class thrust their dreams on their children. As a result, there is a lot of undue pressure on them and this leads to a lot of friction in the family. How then can children be expected to love their parents?

In the West, people have children because they sincerely desire to do so. They do not expect their children to take care of them. They live as friends. A typical Indian parent, on the other hand, expects his children to be subservient all the time. The parent-child relationship can flourish only when there are no expectations.

Rajesh Menon,

Chennai

* * *

Legislation can help to alleviate the sufferings of the old only to a limited extent. The government should further liberalise the concessions given to senior citizens in railways, airlines and so on. All senior citizens dependent solely on their pension must be taken off the income tax net.

The government should think of setting up old-age homes, besides helping those in the private sector. Some privately run old-age homes are costlier than five-star hotels and are profit-oriented.

Col. C.V. Venugopalan (retd.),

Palakkad

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