Why Is Senior Citizen Safety Not Our Priority?

March 16, 2018

Safety measures are often discussed and implemented for only women and children, forgetting the large senior citizen community in the country.

We seem to ignore the basic premise that our Senior Citizens are very vulnerable and unsafe too. From the rising crime rate involving older people, to the regular technology driven scams, our senior citizens today are forced to live in fear…

We at Pune365 decided to check the ground reality and spoke with citizens and law enforcers to get insights into this impending danger…

Tushar Choudhary says, “We had moved to Pune six months ago and around two months back, while I was returning from Dagadusheth Ganpati temple in the evening, the auto driver took me to some peth area and threatened me to hand over my wallet and gold.

Luckily, I had no cards and the cash was also meagre. He spoke to me in Marathi, and figured, that I was not from Maharashtra.

Pune is a safe city but one should learn the regional language to avoid issues. I avoid going out in the evenings now. The big question for us is who we can really trust?

Yes, we face a lot of difficulties. Technology today is so advanced, that one is afraid all the time. Every day we hear stories of scams and frauds over the internet, and often, we don’t know which click may harm us.

Also, one cannot rely on or seek help from anyone today, as you never know who may rob you. I think some serious measures ought to be be taken, says” Smita Jain.

Pratishta Kulkarni (Police Officer) says, “We talk about women safety and children safety but we let go that senior citizens aren’t safe today. There are a lot of reasons for this but I believe the major reason is that most of the children today don’t stay with their parents.

Some either don’t stay in the same city and some don’t stay in the same house. Yes, privacy is important but living just for yourself is also selfish. Each day we deal with so many cases like chain snatching, threatening, cyber fraud that senior citizen are facing today.

I am a Police Officer and I stayed with my in-laws till they died. There are a hundred things that they do for us before we even realize that we even needed it. and in return, they just ask for support and I think in today’s insecure world everybody should support their parents” she adds. A lot of senior citizens want to remain living in their own homes because that is where they feel safe and comfortable, but unfortunately for many families, this is not possible and they are forced to move into care homes or into houses of relatives. There are things like Gary and Mary West PACE, which provide home care services, so the elderly are living safely within their homes and are getting all the help and nourishment they need. This would take a large weight off the backs of relatives and friends who are constantly worried about their elderly loved ones.

Shraddha Shirke says, ” My in-laws stay outside Pune, so we visit them once in a month. We try managing their bills and tickets online itself, so that they can be relieved of the effort. Yet, they are not totally safe and we know it.

I think an all-day maid or help should be kept for their assistance. Also as practice, whenever they leave home, they should inform their family members about their destination. These are a few little precautions all senior citizens should take.

Our safety is in our hands, she adds.