Question

Elderly care- changing demographic pattern in india- Responsibity of society and Role of youth

Answer 1

One of the significant demographic pattern that is seen in India is the disintegration of joint families and increase in the number of nuclear families. This change cannot just be identified as a change in demographics, but can have serious implications on the culture, lifestyle and value systems of the people as well. India was a country known for it strong family bonds and relation ships. But as families break down and the number of members become very few, it leads to the elderly people being isolated in the family. Earlier while there were many members in the family, there would be at least someone to take care of the parents at home. Another demographic pattern which has lead to this situation is the increase in the number of working women in the country. With women empowerment programs and increasing significance of education, more and more women are joining the work force of the country. Where as the participation of women can contribute to the economic growth of the country and more freedom to women, the elderly people are being disregarded most of the times, with no one to take care of their health. This has actually lead to a rise in the number of old age homes in our country. Just like western countries, we are also slowly moving towards the culture of sending our parents to old age home. But this can have serious impact on the lives of our children or rather the younger generation of India. Our innate culture will slowly disappear. Most of our generation or at least that of our parent's would have been brought up by the infinite love and strong moral guidance of their grandparents. Nothing can replace the care, love and affection that a grandparent has on his/her grandchildren. Unknowingly, the values such as honesty, gratitude etc are inculcated in our hearts through the tales told to us by our grand parents. They part us the wisdom that they have gained through their experience. Thus my opinion is that it is not favorable for us to continue this trend of indifference to our family. With little effort from every member, it is possible to manage our elderly people by letting them stay with the family. So that the same values pass on to the next generation as well. It is the responsibility of the youth to keep our culture and values close to our heart. Despite the demographic trend, we are all Indians by heart and there is no harm in preserving our good genes. By this I don't mean that all our cultural aspects are to be guarded.There are many social stigmas that has to be removed and good values from the west can be adopted if it add value to our lives. But before taking a stand on such matters, we should do a proper analysis and foresee the consequences of adapting a foreign culture before sacrificing ours.