Pension woes flood elder helpline

It is 11.45 am on Tuesday when Metrolife arrives at Elder Line Connect Centre, R T Nagar. The centre runs the National Helpline for Senior Citizens 14567 for Karnataka between 8 am and 8 pm daily.

It has already received 23 calls from senior citizens, lead Anand Kumar says, as his team of four call officers waits for more, each sitting in front of a computer with a pair of noise cancellation headphones on. 

The enquiries so far have ranged from pension irregularities to where to buy walking sticks and bathroom fittings and how to get money for medical treatment. A 70-year-old Bengalurean, a frequent caller, said he was feeling lonely and suicidal again. The team transfers such calls to their panel of counsellors. 

Just three minutes into the briefing, a call rends the air in the tiny room. It is a follow-up from Raichur, of a man who has stopped receiving his pension a month ago. You need to apply for a life certificate, the call officer says, explaining the procedure. The next call comes 20 minutes later. A man wants to know about disabled-friendly cars. Ask the government to manufacture and promote such cars, he demands. Another caller is having trouble with his provident fund. His call is transferred to the Tamil Nadu team of 14567 as his bank is based there.

During our two-hour visit, the team receives 10 calls. The daily average has been 40-60 calls lately. That is half the number they used to handle before September 2023. Nightingales Medical Trust, implementing agency of 14567 service in Karnataka, attributes the downturn to changes in an MoU they have signed with the state and central governments (see box).

Despite the demand, the team doesn’t feel the helpline needs to run 24/7. “Senior citizens think of us as a government office and call between 9 am and 5 pm. And we are not emergency care service,” Anand says. Calls missed after 8 pm are returned the following day.

Services at a glance

Elder Line was launched in 2021. It aims to give free information (about healthcare services, old age homes, elder-friendly products), offer guidance (on legal disputes, government schemes, and maintenance issues) and lend an ear to seniors looking to chat.

About 60% of all calls coming to this centre are about pension problems. Call officers try to offer solutions, and list out numbers they can call. Likewise, they share contact numbers of government hospitals, district legal services cells, and the food and civil supplies authorities. “If the officials don’t respond, we intervene and make the call,” says Anand.

Abuse and neglect by children form the second biggest number of calls. If the call is about physical abuse, the helpline calls up 100 or 112 and gets the police to rush to the scene. 

If it is verbal abuse, the team counsels the perpetrator. Often, these are family members. “Under The Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007, children have to look after their parents and pay a monthly allowance (up to Rs 10,000). We don’t threaten them with the law, and also, senior citizens don’t like involving the police and courts in personal matters,” says Anand.

Most people call secretly. Some pretend they are calling to seek help for their neighbours. A few dial up to show people around them that they can call the authorities if pushed to the edge.

Money matters

Cases of the elderly fighting for their property and maintenance are not easy to settle, and can turn acrimonious. In Mysuru, a daughter-in-law and mother-in-law are fighting over property for over a year, and the resolution is nowhere in sight.

An elderly man from Bengaluru was suicidal when he first called the centre a year ago. After counselling, he decided to fight it out in court. Explaining the case, Anand says, “His son works in aviation. The son claims his business is running under loss, so he can’t provide maintenance.”

Trauma watch

The emotional baggage these callers carry sometimes overwhelms members of the team, all under 35.

“A woman from Udupi would call us routinely to enquire where her husband was. We would pass on some numbers. She would call these numbers, get new numbers, and keep calling more and more officials. The Udupi police told us both this woman and her daughter are mentally unwell and skip their medicines,” says Seema Taj, admin in-charge.

A Bengaluru woman, “who speaks impeccable English and owns a colonial-style house”, landed up at the centre to say somebody was trying to set her house on fire. “We later learnt that her mother had died in a road accident before her eyes. Perhaps she hallucinates. She doesn’t even let her children come near her but she is slowly opening up to the idea of counselling,” says Anand.

When an elder calls to say someone is hiding under the bed, knocking on the door or throwing stones at the window, the team intimates the police.

Miscellaneous calls

Being a toll-free helpline, the call officers, all masters in social work, get a lot of unrelated enquiries. Children call to ask how to make Maggi. College-goers seek ‘likes’ on their Instagram page. Drunk men want someone to talk to. Under-60 people impersonate senior citizens to usurp properties. Women demand somebody come home to switch on the refrigerator and clear the garbage in front of their houses. Some want tickets booked to Tirupati or cabs hailed with a police escort as they fear kidnapping.

The team attends to each call patiently, without judging the caller. “About 90% of the job is to listen and 10% to offer advice,” says Anand.

‘Bring back field officers’

Premkumar Raja, cofounder of Nightingales Medical Trust, says in the latest MoU, the central government has removed the provision for field resource officers (FROs). “Without them, the Elder Line is like a call centre to give out information. When it comes to resolving elder abuse cases, we need field intervention, dialogues and follow-ups. Earlier, we had 16 FROs in Karnataka,” he says.

He says he has sought an appointment with the principal secretary at the women and child development department, Karnataka, to explore the idea of integrating the services of 14567 and 1090, a state-supported elder care helpline. 1090 operates in 25 districts of Karnataka through local partners.

Help at hand

Elder care services can be reached:

14567: National Helpline for Senior Citizens for Karnataka (8 am to 8 pm, daily)

1090: Elder Helpline (8 am to 8 pm, daily; night calls get forwarded to the police control room). 

WhatsApp: [phone]

Visit: stopelderabuse.in