It is a matter of huge concern that family members do not feel inclined to talk to the elderly and hear their problems, Kerala Women’s Commission member P. Satheedevi has said.
She was speaking after disposing of complaints at a two-day district-level adalat organised by the commission here on Tuesday.
Ms. Satheedevi said society was changing into one that had no idea how to care for the elderly at home. The elderly expected consideration from family members. Though children expressed their wish to protect the elderly, the latter were not inclined to live with those unwilling to love them or talk to them. Society should discuss this problem seriously, she said.
The commission chairperson also called for setting up ‘pakal veedu’ or daycare centres to take care of elderly women in all local self-government institutions. There should be recreational facilities in these centres for the elderly women, she said.
Ms. Satheedevi also pointed out that even in cases where children were directed by revenue divisional officers (RDO) to take care of the elderly in cases as per the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, rarely was any inclination shown. Even after cases were disposed of by the RDO courts, elderly women had to turn to the Kerala Women’s Commission for support. A number of such cases reached the commission during the two-day sitting. In one case, all children of an elderly woman were summoned and as per their decision, her care was entrusted to one of them. However, the women rebuffed the children’s protection and demanded that she be sent to an old-age home. She said no one was ready to talk to her and she felt no happiness with the family.
The adalat also received cases pertaining to lack of internal complaints cell to prevent harassment in workplaces. There was no mechanism in educational institutions for women teachers to put forth their complaints. Only after grievances reached the commission did school authorities admit that they had not set up an internal complaints cell. Cases of teachers in unaided schools being dismissed without any cause and any benefits despite putting in long years of service also came to the commission’s attention. School authorities did not pay the teachers even for the work done. Such cases should be looked at seriously, Ms. Satheedevi said.
The commission has been receiving maximum number of complaints from Thiruvananthapuram district. The most complaints received at the Thiruvananthapuram district-level adalat pertained to domestic violence. Besides this, cases of extra-marital affairs also came to the commission’s attention.
Besides Ms. Satheedevi, commission members Indira Raveendran, V.R. Mahilamony, Kunhaysha P., and Elizabeth Mammen Mathai disposed of complaints. Eighty cases were disposed of at the adalat.
