As India hits the high road to global integration and its leaders dream of the country as a potential economic/military super power, its traditional and deep-rooted social unit called the family seems to be undergoing extreme stress and a crisis.
This issue has now gained national importance with the Prime Minister of India, Mr Manmohan Singh, convening a Union Cabinet meeting and agreeing to introduce a bill in the Indian Parliament to make neglect of elderly parents (by their children) a serious offence.
Under the provisions of the Bill, a person who was responsible for the upkeep of parents failed to take care of them, can attract punitive measures like three months imprisonment and a fine of Rs 5,000. Besides, it also provides for option to revoke the will, says DNA, a leading Indian newspaper.
The Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Bill 2006 will be introduced in the budget session of Parliament commencing on Friday, Information and Broadcasting Minister PR Dasmunsi told reporters.
Under the provisions of the Bill anyone could suo motu complain to Tribunals seeking relief for the senior citizens.
India has many legends woven around the sacrifices made by their children for their elderly parents. The best known is the story of poor Shravan Kumar who carried his elderly parents on a pilgrimage in two baskets balanced on his shoulder with the help of a bamboo pole.
To read the story please click here.
In an earlier report IHT had this to say: “The difficulties faced by families split up by career moves to the West are confined to a small strata of educated, middle-class Indians. But the phenomenon of the isolated elderly parent is becoming common across all levels of modern Indian society, as extended family structures are eroded by job mobility and the rush from the countryside to the city.
” ‘India is becoming a tougher place to be old in, even for couples whose families remain in India,’ said Mathew Cherian, chief executive of HelpAge, an advocacy group for the elderly. ‘With increased labor mobility, even if they live in India, the children often live far away in another city.’ He added: ‘Since the liberalization of India’s economy in the 1990s, people’s priorities have changed. When you want more money, parents become secondary to the main pursuit of making more money’.”
“There has been a parallel decline in respect for the elderly,” said Gitanjali Prasad, author of the social history, The Great Indian Family.
Swaraaj Chauhan describes his two-decade-long stint as a full-time journalist as eventful, purposeful, and full of joy and excitement. In 1993 he could foresee a different work culture appearing on the horizon, and decided to devote full time to teaching journalism (also, partly, with a desire to give back to the community from where he had enriched himself so much.)
Alongside, he worked for about a year in 1993 for the US State Department’s SPAN magazine, a nearly five-decade-old art and culture monthly magazine promoting US-India relations. It gave him an excellent opportunity to learn about things American, plus the pleasure of playing tennis in the lavish American embassy compound in the heart of New Delhi.
In !995 he joined WWF-India as a full-time media and environment education consultant and worked there for five years travelling a great deal, including to Husum in Germany as a part of the international team to formulate WWF’s Eco-tourism policy.
He taught journalism to honors students in a college affiliated to the University of Delhi, as also at the prestigious Indian Institute of Mass Communication where he lectured on “Development Journalism” to mid-career journalists/Information officers from the SAARC, African, East European and Latin American countries, for eight years.
In 2004 the BBC World Service Trust (BBC WST) selected him as a Trainer/Mentor for India under a European Union project. In 2008/09 He completed another European Union-funded project for the BBC WST related to Disaster Management and media coverage in two eastern States in India — West Bengal and Orissa.
Last year, he spent a couple of months in Australia and enjoyed trekking, and also taught for a while at the University of South Australia.
Recently, he was appointed as a Member of the Board of Studies at Chitkara University in Chandigarh, a beautiful city in North India designed by the famous Swiss/French architect Le Corbusier. He also teaches undergraduate and postgraduate students there.
He loves trekking, especially in the hills, and never misses an opportunity to play a game of tennis. The Western and Indian classical music are always within his reach for instant relaxation.
And last, but not least, is his firm belief in the power of the positive thought to heal oneself and others.