INDIA: Tougher Times for Seniors, Says Sucheta Dalal

NEW DELHI, India (Indian Express), July 23, 2006: There is almost a consensus among senior citizens today that the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government has made life more difficult for those in the taxable bracket, writes Sucheta Dalal today. I asked several leading tax accountants if this was an impressionistic view based on the number of letters one receives from agitated seniors or a reality. All of them agreed that senior citizens are being unduly harassed due to lack of clarity in framing policies and the unwillingness to recognise that they deserves some special consideration. Last fortnight, several Mumbaikars were disturbed by a senior citizen’s column in a local daily pleading for the right to euthanasia because it was getting too difficult to cope. While she listed several hardships, at the top of the list was the reduction in monthly income due to lower interest rates, higher taxes, inflation and escalating cost of essential commodities. The latest blow is the report that government insurance companies do not want to provide Mediclaim to people above 55. The government has not reacted so far to the outrageous decision by public sector insurance companies. But here are some angry reactions: "Will the government react only when there is a spate of suicides?" Another says, "The government must remember that senior citizens in the tax bracket have paid extortionate taxes during their working careers and had no access to housing concessions and capital gains benefits available today; in fact even their gratuity was taxed after a lifetime of employment. Surely some concessions for seniors are a matter of right?" A 71-year-old who has paid medial insurance premium for 15 years asks, "What is insurance, is it not a provision for contingency? Is old age not a realistic contingency after decades of useful service to the nation?" Does the government have any answers?