In five or ten years, this pension will hardly be adequate in the face of inflation and cost of living. Other elders, mostly destitutes, receive a tiny government allowance of Rs. 100-300. This too, monthly. Health care, even in government clinics, is not easily accessed and medicines are expensive especially for chronic illness. Banks and financial institutions offer little relief for elders in terms of loans.
Hospitals discriminate against the elderly upon admittance.
Except for few elders who are blessed with good health and are fortunate to enjoy strong family support, others largely face a helpless situation. He says that an annual addition of about 100,000 into the elderly age group will mean that these numbers will have to be economically supported since by law, retirement age is 55-60 in this country. He also said that their projects are not taking into account the large loss of young life in civil wars in the country. Although unaccounted for, this might yet contribute to enlarging the problem, since on both sides youth populations are lost in violence. The Government, having been warned early of the problems of population ageing has initiated a National Committee on Ageing which is chaired by the Secretary of the Ministry of Social Services.