The Government of Assam and its Finance Minister have set an example for other States to follow, through innovative legislations for the welfare of the elderly
For a media which is enamoured by politics and discourse of the cow belt and south of the Vindhyas, and often obsessed with it, this trickle of exciting pronouncements from the North-East may have gone unnoticed. In what could take the narrative of social engineering and welfare to a new, exalted level, Assam Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma last Tuesday announced two highly innovative programmes — one for girls and another for the elderly — while presenting the State's first full-fledged Budget for 2017-18.
To encourage young girls to take up higher education more seriously, the Assam Government has announced that the top 1,000 girls from the results of Higher Secondary for 2017 shall be given two-wheelers. The second announcement pertains to a proposed legislative provision under which salaries of the Government, Government undertakings, States PSUs and employees of companies shall be deducted and given to their parents, in case they are found to be neglecting the elderly. For some, this may pass as just another policy, but a closer look at the issue reveals that this might serve as a clarion call for many Governments to address an impending social crisis, in earnest.
India fares extremely poorly when it comes to taking care of our elderly. Cases of neglect of elderly parents are rampant, more in urban areas than in rural. While social norms prescribe parental care and support to the elderly — a legacy of the age-old institution of joint family — the strains caused by of urbanisation and modernisation have hugely dented this value. Bereft of any universal social security programme unlike what is prevalent in developed countries of the world, the elderly are often left to endure a life of ignominy, penury, neglect and suffering.
According to a Help Age India Report State of Elderly in India 2014, in 2011 there were 98 million senior citizens above 60 years of age, and the figure is likely to grow to 143 million by 2021; 51 per cent of which will be women. Almost every 10th Indian is a senior citizen, and if most of them are neglected, itlowers the collective well-being of society.
The Assam elderly support model is massively unique for it serves as an indictment on the neglect, and a lesson for those who defy the basic tenet of our social life. “It is expected that the percentage of the population over the age of 60 years will continue to increase due to the changing population age structure. Services to cater to this increasing population of the elderly will need to be provided not only by institutional sources but also through familial structures”, Sarma said in his Budget speech. To kickstart the process, the Government has proposed a legislative cover to such “familial responsibilities”, and a legislation to this effect will be brought in this year.
Even though Article 41 of the Constitution enjoins the State to make effective provision, for public assistance in the case of unemployment, old age and sickness, there is no concrete policy intervention and therefore the initiative of Assam is laudable.
The scheme to provide two-wheeler to performers is also full of great intent, and with the potential to pedal in a new narrative on empowerment of the girls. That better enrollment rate in higher education is a surest way to reduce gender disparities and create a more equal society is common knowledge. Therefore, such motivational policy prescriptions have immense potential to provide the much-needed stimulus for better enrollment of girls in higher education and preparing a more balanced workforce for the future.
(The writer is strategic communications professional)