RIGHTS OF ELDERLY PEOPLE

 INTRODUCTION

Aging is a natural process that inevitably occurs in the human life cycle. It brings many challenges to the lives of the elderly, which are mainly caused by changes in the body, thinking, processes and lifestyle. Aging refers to a decrease in human organ function, primarily caused by physiological changes, and does not mean that everything is done. Older people have all kinds of knowledge, rich experience and deep insights, and are valuable resources that make up such human resources. Perhaps they officially retired, but most of them are healthy and alert.

Therefore, as long as there is an appropriate opportunity, they can make a significant contribution to the social and economic development of their home country.

POPULATION GROWTH: 

The elderly population has been increasing over the years. According to UNESCO estimates, the number of older people (60+) in 2005 is expected to reach 550 million people, which will double in 2025. By 2025, the world will have more elderly people than young people, and in 2050 it will exceed 2 billion people. In India, the elderly population also increased from nearly 2 crore in 1951 to 7.2 crore in 2001. In other words, about 8% of the population is over 60 years old. The figure will exceed 18% by 2025.

PROBLEMS FOR THE ELDERLY: 

The elderly’s problems are:

1. Economic problems, including unemployment, insufficient income and economic instability.
2. Health and medical problems, physiological and physiological problems, including insufficient nutrition and insufficient housing.
3. Psychological and social disability issues and psychosocial issues including elder abuse.

INTERNATIONAL EFFORTS: 

In 1948, under the leadership of Argentina, the United Nations first discussed the issue of aging. Malta raised the issue again in 1969. In 1971, the General Assembly asked the Secretary-General to prepare a comprehensive report on the elderly and provide guidance on national and international action. In 1978, the General Assembly decided to hold a world aging conference.

Thus, the World Aging Council was held in Vienna from July 26 to August 6, 1982, and the International Aging Action Plan was adopted.

The overall goal of the plan is to strengthen the ability of several countries to effectively respond to an aging population, with the special interests and needs of the elderly in mind. The plan seeks to increase people’s understanding of the social, economic and cultural impacts of aging and related humanitarian and developed issues.

The General Assembly adopted the International Aging Action Plan in 1982. In the years that followed, the General Assembly urged the government to continue implementing their principles and recommendations. The General Assembly urged the Secretary-General to continue to work to ensure effective follow-up to the plan.

1. The United Nations General Assembly in 1992 adopted this announcement to designate 1999 as the International Year of the Elderly.
2. The United Nations General Assembly proclaimed October 1st as International Seniors’ Day, after which it was renamed International Seniors’ Day.
3. On December 16, 1991, the United Nations General Assembly adopted 18 principles, divided into five parts: independence, participation, care for the elderly, self-fulfillment and dignity.

These principles provide an extensive framework for aging activities. Here are some principles:

1. Old people should have the opportunity to work and decide when to leave.
2. Seniors should continue to be actively involved in making policies that integrate into society and affect their health.
3. Seniors should seek medical care to maintain their best physical and mental health.
4. Seniors should have the opportunity to take full advantage of their potential and social, educational, cultural, spiritual and recreational resources.
5. Old people must live free, dignified, and safe from exploitation and mental and physical abuse.

NATIONAL EFFORTS: 

(1) CONSTITUTIONAL PROTECTION: 

Article 41: Right to labor, education and public assistance under certain circumstances: States should ensure the right to work in unemployment, education and public support within the scope of economic competence and development Effective regulation, the elderly and disease And disability and other inappropriate needs.

Article 46: Promoting education and economic interests… and other vulnerable groups: States should pay special attention to promoting the educational and economic interests of vulnerable groups… protecting them from social injustice and all forms of exploitation.

However, these provisions are contained in Chapter IV, the basic principle of the Indian Constitution. The “essential principles” mentioned in Article 37 cannot be enforced in any court. However, normative principles impose a positive obligation on the state, that is, what the state should do. Normative principles have been declared the basis of national governance, and the state is obliged to apply them in the enactment of the law. However, the court cannot enforce the “essential principle” because it does not create a right to litigation in favour of the individual. Unfortunately, the state has not even enacted legislation directly related to the elderly.

 

(2) LEGAL PROTECTION: 

According to personal law:

The moral obligation to maintain parents has been recognized by all. However, as far as the law is concerned, the status and degree of this responsibility vary from community to community.

(I) HINDU LAW: 

Among Hindus, sons are obliged to raise elderly parents, but parents cannot rely on their income and property to maintain their livelihoods, even in early textbooks. Moreover, this obligation is not dependent on or limited in any way by referring to the possession of family property. This is a personal legal obligation enforceable by sovereignty or the state. Article 20 of the Indian Adoption and Maintenance Act of 1956 contains the statutory provisions for raising parents under the Hindu Personal Law. This law is India’s first personal law and regulation, which stipulates that children have an obligation to raise their parents. From the wording of this section, it is obvious that the obligations of adoptive parents are not limited to sons, and daughters have equal responsibilities to their parents. It is important to note that only those parents who are financially unable to maintain their lives from any source have the right to seek the right to maintain life under the law.

(II) MUSLIM LAW: 

Even with Muslim laws, children are obliged to raise elderly parents. According to Mulla:

1. Children in a vulnerable situation will certainly raise their poor parents, although the latter may be able to make money on their own.
2. Although a son is in a very difficult situation, if his mother is poor, he will certainly raise his mother, although she may not be infirm.
3. A son, despite his poverty, is making money and will surely feed his father who has nothing.

Tyabji believes that under Hanafi laws, parents and grandparents in poverty have the right to get support from capable children, even if they can make a living. According to Muslim law, both sons and daughters are responsible for adopting parents. However, the obligation depends on their ability to do so.

(III) CHRISTIANITY AND FASCISTISM:

Christians and Parsis have no personal laws that regulate parental retention. Parents who wish to maintain can only apply in accordance with the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Act.

(IV) UNDER THE CRIMINAL PROCEDURE ACT: 

Prior to 1973, the law did not stipulate raising parents. However, the law enforcement committee did not agree with this requirement. According to the report:

Cr.P.C is not a suitable place for these regulations. In this simple process, it is very difficult for parents to share their child’s support. It is best to put this matter in a civil court for judgment.

However, this verse was first introduced in verse Article 125 of the Criminal Procedure Act of 1973. It is important for parents to prove that the other party has sufficient financial resources and to ignore or refuse to retain parents, i.e., those who cannot keep themselves. Cr.P.C in 1973 is a secular law governing people of all religions and communities. Daughters, including married daughters, are also responsible for adopting their parents.

 

(3) GOVERNMENT PROTECTION: 

1. The Government of India approved the “National Senior Policy” on January 13, 1999, empowering it in a way that promotes welfare measures and benefits the elderly. This policy includes the following main steps:
   1. 1. Setting up a pension fund to ensure the safety of people working in non-organizational departments.
      2. Construction of nursing homes and day care centers in 3-4 regions,
      3. Establish resource centers and reemployment bureaus for people over 60,
      4. Rail/airfare discounts for travel within and between cities, i.e. 30% discount on trains and 50% discount on Indian Airlines.
      5. Promote legislation to ensure compulsory elderly care in all public hospitals.

2. The Minister of Justice and the Authority announced that they have established a National Senior Citizens Council called the Elder Will Foundation. Based on the opinions of the elderly, we will take steps to ease their lives.
3. Try to help school-age children live with the elderly. A 24-hour helpline is being established to prevent social exclusion of the elderly.
4. Government policy encourages fast payments of pensions, monetary funds, and tips to save retirees from difficulties. It also encourages older people to be sensitive to tax policies.
5. This policy also attaches great importance to health care needs.
6. According to Section 88-B, Section 88-D and Section 88-DDB of the Income Tax Law, older people may enjoy tax benefits.
7. Indian Life Insurance Company (LIC) also offers several plans for seniors, namely Jeevan Dhara Yojana, Jeevan Akshay Yojana, Yojana Senior Shares, and Yojana Medical Insurance.
8. Former Prime Minister A.B. Bajpai also launched “Annapurana Yojana” for the benefit of the elderly. According to this Yozana, food will be provided to 10 kg of unattended elderly people each month.
9. For low-income urban and rural residents, it is better to allocate 10% of government-planned homes to easy-to-bord seniors.

The policy states:

The arrangement of the housing colony can meet the needs and lifestyle of the elderly, so it is not a practical obstacle to mobility, it is allocated on the first floor and there is social interaction with the members of the elderly society.

Despite all these attempts, it is necessary to impress the elderly. In other words, we try to adapt to the changing environment of life and live in harmony with the younger generation.

Judge Madurai of the High Court of Madras may have recently ruled in accordance with Article 47 of the Disability Act that benefits (equal opportunities, protection of rights) are provided to government employees with disabilities during the period of service. (1995) Law cannot be restricted to seven medical conditions defined as “disability” in the law. The seven medical conditions are blindness, poor vision, leprosy treatment, hearing impairment, movement disorders, mental retardation and mental illness. The Chamber of Commerce judge, made up of Judge Ibrahim and Judge Ben Kata Rahman, said: We believe that if someone knocks on the door to ask for relief, the court cannot close their eyes. In welfare countries such as India, technology is so high that it cannot deny the benefits of compassionate law. The bill has no direct relationship with the elderly, but the seven medical conditions outlined in the bill are common symptoms in the elderly.

NEED FOR A CHANGE IN APPROACH 

In the older times, after the completion of 50 years of life, one had to detach oneself from the responsibilities of a ‘Grihastha‘ and switch over to the third stage of human life which was known as ‘Vanpristha‘ which referred to the devotion of the next 25 years of life by the ‘Vanpristhi‘ by mana, vachana and karma to the selfless service of the suffering humanity and the larger society in return to the services received form society during the first 50 years of life.

In order to make the most of this huge human resource to promote the participation of the elderly on a larger scale in the process of social and economic development, it is necessary to adopt specific strategies and methods of different levels, such as decision making, planning and programming.

Such participation should end social isolation and increase overall satisfaction with life. Every attempt to ensure that the elderly provide services to the state must guarantee a higher quality of life for the elderly and some form of service designed to create a well-designed social security network for the elderly.

Indian society and state must embrace the challenge of effectively focusing on two issues:

1. How to provide fair treatment to the elderly so that they can live a peaceful, constructive and satisfying life; and
2. How to use the abundant knowledge and rich living experiences of the elderly so that the remaining energy can be used to contribute to the overall development of the country.

THE MAINTENANCE AND WELFARE OF PARENTS AND SENIOR CITIZENS BILL, 2007 

This measure is enforced by the relevant state government. The effective date of the law will be informed by the applicable state government in the official gazette.

Under Proposition 5 (1), an elderly person or parent may apply for maintenance under Proposition 4 (A senior citizen is an Indian who is 60 years of age or older. A parent can be a father or mother regardless of whether they are a parent, stepparent, or stepparent). Other or voluntary organizations approved by the elderly or parents may apply for assistance on their behalf. The arbitral tribunal can take the form of a class action (that is, it can act on its own). These two rules are welcome because most elderly or parents do not have the energy and no money to apply for maintenance.

If a lawsuit pending monthly maintenance allowance under this section is pending, the court may order such children or relatives to pay a temporary maintenance allowance for the elderly, including parents, each month. The state must form a court within six months of the effective date of the law (law) to determine and determine the maintenance order referred to in Article 5.

According to Article 4 (1), if the elderly (including parents) are unable to maintain income with their own income or earn a living with their own property, they have the right to apply under Article 5. Parents or grandparents can apply for support for their children in one or more specializations (“children” include sons, daughters, grandchildren and granddaughters). The child’s obligation to maintain a parent extends to the needs of the parent’s father or mother, or both, depending on the needs of the parent, so that the parent can lead a normal life.

On the other hand, seniors without children can apply to relatives (“relatives” refer to the legal heirs of seniors without children, who are professional, owned or inherited property after the death of the elderly without children.; property is real estate Any type of property, whether it is real estate or real estate, ancestors or sisters, tangible assets or intangible assets, including interest in.

Therefore, article 4 cited grandparents, but article 5 did not. In other words, Article 5 does not mention how grandparents (under 60 years old) should be regulated by Article 4 apply for maintenance.

Article 23 (1) of the Old Man, when an old person transfers property through gift or other means, if the relative provides basic convenience and basic physical needs to the old man and the relative refuses or does not provide such convenience and actual needs. It is stipulated that the transfer of said property will be declared void by the court if it makes such a request. This is a welcome provision because minors protect against exploitation by relatives who want to violate the promise.

The state must also develop a comprehensive action plan to protect the lives and property of the elderly. This is also a welcome rule because vulnerable elderly people are vulnerable. In fact, older people may take it somewhere so that others, including voluntary organizations and courts, do not know their location. Fortunately, Proposition 24 treats this. According to this article, “In any situation, under the care or protection of the elderly, the intention of the entire elderly to abandon the behavior of the elderly everywhere is subject to detention as described in one of the following conditions: A three-year extended month or fine, up to 5,000 rupees, or both, is suggested to force the registration of the elderly in police departments in jurisdictions. Related NGOs may need to visit the elderly at least quarterly. This is implied by the judicial police.

Obviously, in its current form, this measure will meet the needs of educated families, property classes, parents and senior citizens in urban areas. It cannot meet the needs of poor social members or parents and the elderly in the village. One generation will find that three generations live on the same generation, even on the same roof! How can you keep your parents and grandparents if your son is also poor? How does the court decide such a dispute? If your son is imprisoned, you will be so happy that you can guarantee at least two meals a day.

Understandably, because of limited resources, one cannot expect the government to do a thorough job here. But this can at least improve the situation. How about it? It should allow those who care for their parents/grandparents/elderly people to use income tax. This is only fair, because if taxes are collected from citizens, the government should provide social security to the elderly as they get older. When the government is unable to provide social security, it should at least encourage citizens to provide social security by allowing income taxes. After all, a citizen caring for elderly parents or older citizens is providing them with social security, which is strictly what the government should provide. Our government collects taxes from the US government, but unlike the US government, the US government does not provide social security to all citizens. I have pointed out this anomaly in my article, why is Tirupur leading Ludhiana? The date is November 20, 2007. All the government has to do is rob Peter and pay Paul.

Unfortunately, the government has not made any serious attempts to cover the elderly under the group health insurance plan. It believes that insurance is mostly necessary in seriously ill and inadequately equipped hospitals (!). Well, first of all, let the government convince me that AIIMS in New Delhi has enough capacity to treat poor elderly people.

The bill does not cover old-age pensions, probably because the state government is implementing an old-age pension plan. However, according to the above plan, the pension amounts and eligibility criteria of the states are not uniform. The bill should authorize the state governments to pay pensions to the elderly in a unified manner throughout the country. This should not be difficult, because all the government has to do is rob Peter and pay Paul. It must reject income tax for those who do not have adoptive parents/grandparents/relatives. It must refuse the pension of parents/grandparents/relatives raised by children/relatives.

CONCLUSION 

It can be concluded that the problems of the elderly need to be addressed urgently and as much as possible. There is an urgent need to amend the Constitution to protect the elderly and include them in the scope of basic rights. Collapse of the common family system, familiarity with misalignment and respect for the elderly, modern homes should not be regarded as a safe place. Therefore, the enactment of legislation to ensure the welfare and further protection of the elderly, including palliative care, is a national constitutional obligation.

Author: Anubhuti Agrawal,
Jagran Lakecity University,Bhopal