Retirement homes revive interest in Kerala
State’s demographics showing a tilt towards an increased percentage of senior citizens
For decades, the globe-trotting Keralites who remitted money from overseas focused on investing in palatial houses back home.
But, with the state’s demographics showing a tilt towards an increased percentage of senior citizens, new interest is emerging in the state for retirement homes featuring premium infrastructure.
“Those who have worked all their life and earned their money are indeed deserving of good retirement options. And they need the freedom to enjoy their second innings in a place that guarantees safety and provides good company”, says George John who has himself founded a premium retirement village named Graceland at Mulanthuruthy near Kochi.
“The interest in the project was so strong that all the 16 villas at the project, each costing Rs4.80 million, have been taken up”, says John an Indian advertising guru who once headed leading advertising agencies including Ulka and TBWA Anthem.
The project offers the villas on lifetime lease, and monthly fees for food, maintenance and laundry services are pegged at roughly Rs10,000 (Dh538). The project also offers single bedroom apartments that can be leased at Rs2.8 million.
“Many senior citizens are actually lonely in their own homes and they would appreciate the company of people in their agegroup”, says Mumbai-based professional Susan Josi, one of John’s partners in the venture.
Last week, veteran Communist Party of India Marxist leader, V.S. Achuthanandan said in many Western countries there were flawless elder-care systems in place and stringent punishment for neglecting senior citizens.
Expected to fill void
Speaking at the state conference of the Senior Citizens Service Council, Achuthanandan, himself a nonagenarian, said many senior citizens in the state were languishing in old-age homes without adequate care.
Retirement homes have sprouted by the dozen in Kerala over the past decade, but many of them offer only the basic needs for a senior citizen, and inmates are sometimes left alone in a room with few opportunities for conversation with others. More upmarket retirement homes are expected to fill this void, providing comfortable retirement options for professionals.