Demand for panel to address distressed sr citizens’ plaints

LUCKNOW:“My son and daughterin-law torture me. They abuse me and often beat me.” Tears rolled down the eyes of Asha Srivastava, a senior citizen, as she recounted the daily torment. Helplessness was writ large on her face as she had no option but tolerate the harsh behaviour of her son and daughter-in-law. Hers is not the lone case. A number of such experiences were recounted at the UP Press Club on Sunday during a programme organised by Pati Pariwar Kalyan Samiti. The programme was aimed at drawing attention to the rights of aged mothers who were victims of physical and mental torture by children.

Indu Subhash, chairperson of the Samiti said, “Time and again voices are raised for the rights of women. But often the rights of mothers, especially senior citizens, remain neglected.”

Indu, who also manages a helpline for the elderly said, “We have received around 3,000 calls in the past four months from senior citizens who are in some kind of distress and need help. We demand a senior citizens’ commission where they can put forth their problems and their issues can be addressed. I will submit the demand for the constitution of a senior citizens’ commission to the chief minister soon.”

While elderly women narrated the torture meted out to them by their sons and daughters-in-law, AK Singh, state president of Helpage India shared some startling revelations of an all India survey carried out by his organization.

Singh said, “Helpage India carried out a survey to assess the abuse of parents (senior citizens) in 20 states recently. Uttar Pradesh ranks the second with the highest number of such cases reported by the elderly.”