Senior citizens must have a decent life and a peaceful passing

• Generation gap is another problem that turns the situation worse

The death of 13 inmates of an elders’ home in Anguruwathota, Horana,  in a fire  on June 3 does not seem to have emotionally touched the people of the country much. No politicians from the ruling party or the Opposition have shown interest in expressing views on the welfare of the senior citizens of the country after the incident. 

Also, no serious discussion is ongoing in the mainstream media on the predicament of the elderly population in the country and remedial measures. Social media platforms almost totally blacked out the incident.  

The real purpose of elders’ homes must be looked into in light of reports that the institution has not been registered with the National Secretariat for Elders, and the inmates had been kept in conditions with minimal facilities. Pursuit of profit seems to have taken precedence over humanitarian concerns.

Authorities say that only 148 out of 456 elders’ homes in Sri Lanka have been registered, raising so many questions about the welfare of inmates of these homes. Yet, the authorities must be responsible for the condition of those homes, registered and unregistered, apart from the existence of unregistered homes.  

Many accuse the relatives of inmates of not taking care of their elderly or mentally challenged parents at home, as if the negligence and cruelty in respect of elders is limited only to elders’ homes. We have heard hundreds of stories of elderly parents who have been mistreated by their own sons and daughters at home. 

A woman was arrested few years ago for locking her 72-year-old father in a kennel, in Balagolla, Kandy. Then, Meetiyagoda police were able to find a 78-year-old mother locked by her granddaughter in a bathroom adjoining a toilet. In a third incident, an elderly mother of nine children had been abandoned in a hut in Thirappane.  

These are manifestations of a bigger problem existing in the country for decades. The best symptom of the problem is the decade old meagre public assistance allowance also known as “pin-padi”, which is usually spent, in most cases for buying candy for their grandchildren. 

Cruelty against elderly parents is looked at by  society as wickedness and ungratefulness of the children of the victims. However, that is only one aspect of the problem. The main cause of the problem is both circumstantial and societal. When it is coupled with an innate uncultured mindset or poverty or both, it is manifested in a disaster, as in the cases of those parents cited above. 

Incidents at homes or elders’ homes are not isolated; rather it is a social issue. Wherever there are elders with disabilities such as vision, hearing and/or mobility problems which restrict their activities of daily living and independence, we would hear harrowing tales, irrespective of whether the families concerned are rich or poor. 

Generation gap is another problem that turns the situation worse, since most elderly people are also adamant in adhering to their habits, life styles and authority on the family which creates unpleasant clashes with their offspring. These are always hidden behind cultural veils. Interestingly, members of such families too sometimes might curse the children of parents of other families for similar situations.

Sri Lanka has been identified as one of the countries in the Asian region with a fastest-growing elderly population, according to health authorities. Consultant Community Physician Dr. Nishani Ubeysekara stated at a media briefing organised by the Health Promotion Bureau, last year that in 2012, the elderly population of Sri Lanka accounted for 12% of the total population and by 2024, this figure has increased to 18%. The projection for the year 2040 was 25 percent, she stated. 

Parents are locked in kennels, abandoned bathrooms and dumped in elders’ homes with least protection in a country where four great religions teach how to treat the parents and while the state and the civil society commemorate the International Day of Elders on October 1 every year.

In Sri Lanka, the elderly parents are totally left to the mercy of their children who are also in most cases under severe economic pressure. However, society has a responsibility in this regard as in some western countries where the elderly people are more certain how they are going to spend the last days of their life.

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