Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, June 15: Marking “World Elder Abuse Awareness Day”, Help Age India released a nation-wide report on “How India treats its elderly’ on other day.
In Jammu, the report was released by MLC Vikram Singh Randhawa at Help Age India Jammu office at 27, Gandhi Chowk, Subhash Nagar, Jammu.
The report claimed that nearly 1 in every 2 elderly people faced abuse in public spaces across India and Delhi was among the least abusive cities.
According to the report, ‘How India treats its elderly’, 23 per cent of the elderly in the national capital faced abuse as against 70 per cent in Bangalore, which recorded the maximum abuse, followed by 60 per cent in Hyderabad, 59 per cent in Guwahati, 52 per cent in Kolkata, 49 per cent in Chennai and 33 per cent in Mumbai. The national average was 44 per cent.
“We had conversations with more than 4,000 people in different cities across the country. They have shared their stories of discrimination in society. From pushing and ignoring to misbehaving with them, there have been horrific incidents which elderly people have gone through,” says Manjira Khurana, the Country Head-Communication and Advocacy of HelpAge India.
Noting that mistreatment of the elderly in public spaces was “inexcusable”, the report that was released here today, also features first-hand accounts of the rampant abuse faced by senior citizens in public transport, hospitals and malls.
Sixteen per cent of those who travel by public bus mention incidents of misbehaviour by bus conductor, while 17 per cent of mall staff is reported to have behaved badly with the elderly. Similarly, 12 percent of the elders have been treated rudely by others in a queue, while trying to pay their utility bills such as telephone, electricity, etc.
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