Amitabh Srivastava
Since 2002 the United Nations has been observing the International Day of Older Persons on October 1.
This year the theme of this day is “Older Persons Driving Local and Global Action: Our Aspirations, Our Well-Being and Our Rights” which is supposed to highlight the transformative role the older persons play in building resilient and equitable societies, days the UN website.
It goes on to say “Far from being passive beneficiaries, older persons are drivers of progress, contributing their knowledge and experience in areas such as health equity, financial well-being, community resilience, and human rights advocacy.”
The Political Declaration and the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing (MIPAA), adopted in 2002, are considered the cornerstones of global ageing policy, promoting a society for all ages through action on development, health, and supportive environments.
The 2025 theme directly reflects these principles by recognizing older persons as drivers of progress at both local and global levels.
But all this appears to be so much of gas which meaning nothing.
Let’s see the ground reality around us in India, to begin with.
Every day there are stories of elderly parents being deprived of their property by their own children despite so many laws.
The situation is so pathetic that the elderly whose population is on the rise for no fault of theirs.
Most of them attribute this to greater health awareness and the ‘Alom Vilom’ taught by Baba Ramdev.
The problem is that for Baba Ramdev and his Assistant Acharya Balkrishna Yoga lessons became a screen to grab government tenders and set up their own multi crore industry.
A recent expose in the Indian Express showed how three companies all owned by Acharya Balkrishna applied for some projects in Uttarakhand and one of them grabbed it. Obviously!
But for his elderly Bhakts that run into millions who are seen rubbing their nails hoping to grow long hair, life beyond Yoga has not been easy.
Except for those few lucky ones in the organised sectors who get their pensions with annual increments the senior citizens have been losers all the way.
Deprived of jobs(wanted under 35),insurance and medical benefits they have been further deprived of the concessions in rail travel as well.
The General Z not only in Nepal and Srilanka but everywhere else treats this class of cattle as a bunch of inefficient,’good for thing’, corrupt generation which has spoilt evrything it could.
And it wants to take control in its hands tactfully at times but if not the best methods it knows.
The rulers in Germany, China, Russia, France and now India are worried that if the population of the elderly keeps increasing while the youngsters are happy with one or two children the future is in doldrums.
They have been asking the younger generation to produce more babies to make up for this disbalance if not today at least in 20 years from now.
In France the youth came out on the streets to protest against the increase in retirement age. The order had to be taken back.
But unfortunately for everyone this generational takeover anywhere has not brought about the expected results.
In Bangladesh and Nepal the Prime Ministers accepted by the youth are senior professionals. But they have their hands tied and except for the overthrow of duly elected regimes there is nothing to show that the youth had been able to bring about the changes they have been talking about.
So in 2025 we are in a state of flux.
The elderly are unwanted and the youth does not know what it wants.
