Elderly look for help from youth

In Delhi from different corners of India for the sixth time over the last one-and-a-half year, the elderly protestors gathered at Jantar Mantar, to soak up the sun, sing bhajans, while intermittently sloganeering for a universal pension of Rs 2,000.

Their demeanour might not mirror the momentum of the recent youth-led protests at this site, but their indomitable spirit does. On protest at Jantar Mantar since November 27, the senior ciizens aim at continuing their protest till the end of the Winter Session of Parliament.

Carrying two jholas of biscuits at the crack of the dawn, 65-year-old Poonam Singh cycles out in his village near Udaipur to earn his day-to-day living. What brings him to the Capital, halting his daily source of living? “I get a pension of Rs 500. At times, my pension only reaches me after five months, that too, only for that particular month. The meagre 100 rupees I make everyday from selling biscuits, help me run my household. But life gets really difficult if my wife falls ill,” says the wizened old gentleman.

Heading the movement for the elderly, the 83-year-old co-convenor of Pension Parishad, Baba Adhav leads the protest at Jantar Mantar. Voicing their demands, Baba Adhav says, “This APL/BPL (Above Poverty Line or Below) criteria for pensions should be done away with.

In fact, there should be a universal pension of Rupees 2,000 which should be indexed to inflation.” He asserts that in March this year, Jairam Ramesh, the then Rural Development Minister had concurred with them but nothing has been implemented. While the Union Government provides pension at Rs 200 per month, only for the BPLpersons above 60 years of age but pension provisions differ across States in terms of monthly pension amounts, minimum eligibility age, maximum income limit for
eligibility etc.

Be it Anna’s Lokpal movement or the recent LGBT rights protests, the country’s youth, in huge numbers, poured out on the streets in support. But the same cannot be said on issues concerning the elderly, the infirm or the marginalised. Spotting no young face amidst the elderly protestors, Metrolife asked Baba Adhav if the Indian youth is not conscious about the rights of the elderly. Reflecting upon it, he said, “Honestly, we did not invest time and energy in garnering the support of youngsters. Nevertheless, it would have helped immensely if they had taken up our cause as well.”

 Vipul Mittal, one amongst the many Delhi University students who went to Jantar Mantar to express solidarity and lend support to gender issues to mark the Nirbhaya anniversary, admitted ignorance about the issues the elderly pensioners were protesting about. He said, “It is motivating to see so many people fighting for their rights on their own.

Till I came across the old age pension protest here, I did not even know that the Centre gives only a paltry sum of Rs 200 as pension to the elderly. That is nothing but a pittance.”

Hailing from Karnataka, Kannakama, summarises her emotion, saying, “Whether pension will increase or not, we do not know, but every time we hear about the protest we come down to the Capital leaving all our work, hoping things will change. Even if they don’t, we poor people will keep waiting and participate in another round of protest for that change
to happen.”