Senior Citizens’ wholeness - a vital priority

Miran Perera

World Elders’ Day falls today, October 1. Sri Lanka’s Senior Citizens and retirees are an unfortunate lot. Unfortunate because they are economically bankrupt and comparatively poor. They suffer silently because their protests to obtain a better deal are unseen and unheard by the authorities concerned.

Their monthly income could be a mere pension given by the government or a tiny interest from a fixed deposit in a bank. Unlike in the past, Senior Citizens are no longer in a situation to receive financial support or care from their children owing to increasing aspirations of the children created by changing social trends over the years. The great demographic issue in the coming decades in the developing countries will no longer be the rate of population increase but the growing number of old people. Today the number of old people throughout the world is increasing alarmingly and many states as well as voluntary organizations are doing their best to assist helpless and lonely old people to make their lives happier.

One of the most important facts to be realized is that in any country old age creates many economic and sociological problems. At the same time many old people and others on the verge of reaching that stage feel that it is a dismal and unhappy age about which we should always be worried to a lesser or greater extent. However this need not be so if one takes care to prepare for old age gracefully even amidst mundane failures and frustrations that human beings usually have to face from time to time.

Ageing population

Sri Lanka ranks high as a country with a rapidly ageing population. Out of a population of 18.9 million in 2000, 9.3 percent or 1,760,000 was estimated to be over 60 yeas of age. In the 2025 the population is estimated 18 percent and in 2050 around 27.6 percent. It is also estimated that by 2050 Sri Lanka would have a population of which 50 percent would be over 50 years of age.

Hence the current situation of the elderly in Sri Lanka and the emerging trends need serious consideration. Generally the priority given by government to national policies for the elderly has been low in Sri Lanka, as pointed out by the Social Services Commission and Jennings report of 1948.

However with the United Nations Declaration at the world assembly on ageing in 1982 and the introduction of the Vienna International Plan of Action on Ageing, Sri Lanka established National Committee for the elderly in 1982. Thereupon policy formulation has gathered momentum and it was also done in view of the emerging situation of elderly, with the increase of older persons in numbers and proportion. The Senior Citizens in many developed countries enjoy comfortable lifestyles thanks to their benefit schemes. Unlike the Senior Citizens in our country they do not need to depend on their pension alone or be a burden to their children at their old age.

To address this issue in a prudent manner urgent steps are needed to be taken with regard to the retirement system. There is a great need for the implementation of pension reforms in this country. All cultures irrespective of religion, tradition and custom will evolve in such a way that the elderly must no longer expect to be taken care of by their families, as is occurring in the West. They will have to keep on working in old age unlike the West. It is clear that inspite of their predetermined pathway the future of the developing countries will only partly replicate the example they have been bidden to follow. In other worlds, Senior Citizens will have all our social problems but without sufficient wealth to take care of them.

Life expectancy

The leaders of countries should listen very carefully indeed to the subtext, the messages between the lines which as always are move eloquent than the opaque words on the surface. The prospect of the Senior Citizens of the Third World remaining at work is worrying enough. For despite the survival into old age of many poor people thanks largely to new drugs and the technology of longevity which has spectacularly enhanced life expectancy in the West, in what condition should such survivors expect to be? Since many would have started work as children it seems somewhat brutal to say the least to ask them to prolong their employment, already enfeebled and impaired as they will be by half or three quarters of a century of hard labour.

The best time to prepare for old age is when one is youthful and vigorous because if you prepare for old age long before you reach that inevitable phase in life you will not have any regrets when you reach old age. Of course, it is very important that we follow right values and wholesome principles in health throughout our lives, if we expect to reach a reasonably satisfying old age.

Much evidence is available in our country of many individuals who have strived hard for worldly success losing their health and the capacity for enjoyment in the very process of achieving that success and accumulating wealth. Psychological stability and happiness in old age can be gained by maintaining a balanced personality no matter the problems that beset old age.

Religious and cultural beliefs

Old age is also a phase where we should have a philosophical acceptance of life no matter the worldly problems one is usually faced with. If one wants to have a serene old age one should also cultivate a sense of total detachment based on one’s religious and cultural beliefs. For instance, if he is a Buddhist he could follow a methodical system of regular meditation. Along with ageing and particularly when one becomes a very old person he may develop a certain queerness or a weakening of his mental faculty and physical strength and these must be considered as normal features of old age. The Sri Lanka policy for older persons are (a) To prepare the population for a protective and fulfilling life at old age socially, economically, physically and spiritually (b) to ensure independence, participation, care, self-fulfillment and dignity for those in old age. The objective is to give leadership and policy initiative to create a healthy environment for older persons within the cultural moves and religious practices.

The national policy seeks to assure older persons that their concerns are national concerns and they will not live unprotected, ignored or marginalized. The goal of the national policy is the wellbeing of Senior Citizens. It aims to strengthen their legitimate place in society and help older persons to live the last phase of their lives with purpose, dignity and peace. The policy visualizes that the state will extend support for financial security, healthcare, shelter, welfare and other needs of older persons, provide protection against abuse and exploitation, make available opportunities for development of the potential of Senior Citizens, seek their participation and provide services, so that they can improve the quality of their lives.

The policy recognizes the need for affirmative action in favour of the elderly. It has to be ensured that the rights of the older persons are not violated and they get opportunities and equitable share in development benefits in different sectors of development, programmes and administrative actions will reflect sensitivity in older persons living in rural areas.