Senior citizens' rights

The International Day of Older Persons was observed on Saturday, October 1st, by over 10 million aging citizens in Pakistan. Yet as the day was marked with the usual seminars, aging Pakistanis were still unsure whether they'll be given their due rights or not since currently there is no legislative arrangement ensuring their rights and providing concessions.

In today's world, with growing population, urbanisation and change in lifestyle, senior citizens in Pakistan may have tough last few years of their lives lying ahead. Thanks to the traditional family system, unlike the industrial nations in the West, old-age people are revered in the society and given due deference. They are almost always anointed as the head of the household despite being unable to work, and family decisions are taken with their due consultation. 

However, things are changing with the fast-paced life as are the social and family structures. Where earlier, families tend to live together in a joint household, more and more families are choosing to go nuclear, leaving their aged parents behind. With Pakistan's social structure still steeped in tradition, steps have to be taken to adjust to the changing trend in lifestyles.

The initial idea for a bill for senior citizens was developed almost a decade ago. Eventually, the plan for a draft was initiated back in 2007, which was then prepared in 2009, to be presented in the National Assembly. However, it has yet to see the light of the day. Now with the devolution of the Ministry of Social Welfare and subsequently the dissolution of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Social Welfare, the future of the 'Senior Citizens Bill' hangs in balance. The onus has now fallen on the provincial governments to take up this bill and ensure provision of due rights to the senior citizens.

Under the Bill, a 60 years or above person would be considered a senior citizen and would be entitled to take advantage of the facilities enshrined in the Bill. The proposed facilities include health benefits and travel concessions. Such amenities will bring much-needed relief to people who comprise nearly 10 percent of the population and face significant cut in their income upon retirement.

The bill for protection of senior citizens' rights is the step in the right direction but its passage needs to be sped up. The draft has been pending for presentation in NA for the last two years and with the provincial assemblies dealing with a plethora of other issues, the priority assigned to this bill is down the pecking order. What is more worrisome is the lack of concrete strategies. At the government level there is a lot of talk and inconsequential rhetoric about 'providing benefit' and 'making life easy' for the senior citizens without a qualitative framework, which needs to include care for ageing people abandoned by their families.

With progress in the field of medical sciences, more and more people are able to live longer and that holds true of Pakistan as well. Considering that we live in a country already short on resources, the government needs to implement plans and initiate schemes to involve the senior citizens to help them be part of the social fabric well after they retire. In one extreme example, during the recent earthquake in Japan, senior scientists who had retired after serving their country for decades, decided to form an association and volunteered to help out at the Fukushima nuclear reactor, badly affected by the earthquake, to protect young scientists from the dangers of radiation.

The said example may not apply to Pakistan, but the underlying idea is to utilise the experience and skills of a section of society which is considered useless after they reach a certain age, increasing a decline in productivity.

Pakistan has the highest percentage of youth population, and in the course of the next few decades, the number of senior people is only going to increase. With minimal resources and lack of facilities, it will be a huge burden on the health sector as well as overall productivity. For once, the government has a chance to implement a bill, which could be visionary in its essence, and be beneficial for the country in the long run.

Published in Business Recorder (9 October 2011).