BHOPAL: With more than 58 lakh voters above the age of 60, this group doesn’t seem to be in the priority list of any major political party. Though all parties mention about them in a separate category, but at ground level, they are subjected to negligence. The Shivraj Singh Chouhan-led BJP government formed a Senior Citizen Commission in December 2012 to look into the problems and recommend suggestions for betterment of the elderly in the state. Chouhan had organized a panchayat for the old at his official residence and had announced formation for this commission. The commission headed by chairman BG Dharamadhikari submitted its report amidst reported apathy from the state government.
However, what happened to the recommendations made by the commission is not clear yet. “Senior citizens’ primary concern is about health facilities. Government talks too much about schemes meant for the elderly but do nothing at the ground level,” said Ganesh Dutt Joshi, a pensioner from Bhopal. There are more than 4.64 lakh pensioners in the state. They are still struggling to get arrears of previous Pay Commission. Shivraj announced that the pensioners would get arrears from January 2016 in a panchayat meant for the elderly but when the orders were issued the date was changed to April 2018. Pensioners feel that they were cheated. Besides government employees’ pension, the state government also provides ‘social security pension’ to the destitute. The government pension under this scheme is a meager Rs 300 per month.
Though the state government has sent a proposal to increase it to Rs 500 per month, it is still under consideration. “We get Rs 300 per month as pension to sustain ourselves but that too is not regular. We keep on inquiring and get the pension once in three months or so. We have to spend about Rs 50 to get the pension of Rs 300,” said Kamla Bai. BJP might have faulted on other social security schemes for the old and destitute but its Teerth Yatra Yojna had been a thumping success among the elders of the state. “I feel bad when I see corruption all around but I have forgiven Shivraj Singh’s mistakes after my visit to Vaishnodevi,” Yogita Devi (64), who had been on the pilgrimage with her husband- all for free.
Shivraj is also lauded for the right given to parents if ill-treated by their children. Several elderly got relief after they reported abuse by their own children; their children were penalized and ordered to provide sustenance to the parents. The Congress too in its manifesto of 2013 had promised a teerth darshan yojana besides promising regularity in government pension and increase in the social security scheme.
