INDIA: Old — and independent

Real-estate players are targeting senior citizens with housing features that will, in some measure, make up for the absence of their children. HYDERABAD, Andhra Pradesh (The Hindu Business Line), April 13, 2008: K.V. Kurmanath ______________________________________________________________ One of the biggest fears people lose sleep over is retired life. With the children grown up and settled elsewhere, who will take care of us? How to spend time? Who will attend to us in case of medical emergencies? — These are some of the questions troubling middle-aged people, not to speak of the old themselves. Recognising this universal problem, real-estate players have started looking at developing gated communities, tailor-made to the needs of retired people. These communities will have ATMs, supermarkets, hospitals, recreation clubs, restaurants offering buffets and driver-on-call facilities. With financial institutions coming out with reverse mortgage schemes, it would be an attractive option for old people. “The very idea of living in isolation makes them shudder, in the autumn of their lives. They have enough money. They can afford expenses but whom can they call upon in case of an emergency? Forget about an emergency situation, how will they move about in the city, for routine chores such as utility payments and bank work? Who will accompany them?" Mr E Sudhir Reddy, Chairman and Managing Director of IVRCL Infrastructure and Projects Ltd, says. “It is not just the fears of the elderly, children too are a worried lot, living hundreds or thousands of km away, thinking about the safety and well-being of their parents and grandparents,” Mr Reddy says. IVR Prime Urban Developers, an IVRCL group company, is building Vanaprashtha on 100 acres, Anakel near Bangalore, targeting people above 50 years. The project will house both independent houses and apartments with a total strength of 2,000 dwelling units. “The gated community will have everything that a retired couple might need. It will have an entertainment area, club, a 24x7 help desk and paramedics,” he says. Colony-like ambience Though in vogue in many Western countries, the concept is yet to take off in India. There are old-age homes, some of them maintained very well. But they don’t give a normal colony-like ambience. IVR Prime plans to offer a variety of flexi options for food, getting hourly maid help and to get dropped or received at airports. People either can buy or lease out the houses at the facility. “Why, we will even buy back at cost whenever they want to go out,” says Mr Reddy. Saket Engineers, Hyderabad-based real-estate company, has also announced ‘Pratham’, a gated community for retired people, near A S Rao Nagar. “We will build three nine-storeyed blocks, each having 100 flats. We will offer a place where the elderly people can live with dignity and security,’ Mr T Radhakrishna, Managing Director of Saket, says. He, however, makes it clear that charities wouldn’t work. “The project should have a viable revenue model to sustain or it is bound to break down," he warns. Janapriya Engineers Syndicate, which has been focusing on the salaried class, is also working on a project for senior citizens at its upcoming Aracadia at Kowkur. “We will set apart one block for them,” Mr K Ravinder Reddy, Chairman and Managing Director, says. Copyright © 2008, The Hindu Business Line.