Sailesh Mishra felicitated with the prestigious ‘Karmaveer Puraskaar Maharatna’

• Three-day congregation celebrates inclusivity, egalitarianism and extraordinary in ordinary
• Awardees for this year represented 10 plus countries

November 26, 2019, New Delhi: Sailesh Mishra has been felicitated with the coveted ‘Karmaveer Puraskaar Maharatna’ National award for his commendable work in the field of social service at the annual “iCONGO’s  REX Conclave that was held from November 25 to 27 in New Delhi. 

The three-day congregation celebrated inclusivity, egalitarianism and extraordinary in ordinary as REX believes in POWER of ONE and “I Change to Change India, I change to change the World and I change to change everything”.

The coveted awards celebrate their belief in “Not just Talks but ideas for Action” to usher in change. The 3-day REX CONCLiVE is a must for all Karmaveeraward recipients and REX Karmaveer Global Fellows to attend because the 3 days is where a lot of collective-learning, knowledge-sharing and wisdom-transfer. Thus, the REX CONCLiVE is not just a school, college, institution or university of learning, but a TEMPLE OF LEARNING that celebrates and values LIFE, LEADERSHIP and Leaning2Learn lessons that each fellow and award recipient shares with each other. Here everyone is a learner and teacher and mentor and mentee. In the words of Jeroninio Almeida (founder of REX and Karmaveer mission) in his book series Karma Kurry “I believe that everyone is a hero, a leader, a volunteer, a teacher and a champion of change. All we need to do is acknowledge and understand this and then help others to also understand the same. That’s all it takes to be a hero, a leader, a volunteer, a teacher and a champion of change.”

At the REX Karmaveer Global Fellowship, we have created this shared, sacrosanct space for learning where everyone learns from each other and draws inspiration from each other. Earlier this year we had launched the REX Karmaveer Global Young Leaders Fellowship where several students from schools/colleges were awarded the Karmaveer Chakra (instituted in partnership with the UN) Blue Medallion of Honour for their cutting-edge work to be the change and make a difference. This year on 26th November 2019 several Karmaveer Puraskaar award recipients and Noble Laureates, from the past 15 years were awarded the highest Honour, the Karmaveer Puraskaar Maharatna for their sustained efforts to keep doing good and continuing with their noble work.  These 45 award recipients were also given the Karmaveer Chakra blue medallion of honour, which was created for students, for being lifelong learners and keeping an open mind to learning in every moment. We must remember Leadership and Learning are co-related and indispensable to each other.

The awardees for this year represented several countries from across the globe and were finalised after a rigorous selection process. These awards seek to celebrate and inspire individual citizen social responsibility, justice and action, and are held every year on the day the Indian Constitutional Pledge was signed.

Sailesh Mishra has been conferred with this award for his constant work in the field of Elder care and Dementia.

Commenting on the award, REX founder Jeroninio Almeida said, "The  Rex Karamveer  Global Fellowship, Karamveer Puraskaar and Karmaveer Chakra awards  recognise and applaud the social commitment of concerned, socially responsible individuals, who have proactively and voluntarily worked for bringing a positive transformation in the society and the world we live in. In today’s world where there is huge apathy & indifference, we feel a paramount need for being not just a good person but also a good citizen who exercises her/ his rights, duties & responsibilities as a concerned, just and humane citizen.”

“We congratulate Sailesh Mishra for possessing the conviction and compassion to stand up, speak out and lead the change with her positive as well as Inspirational attitude! The management of iCONGO has selected his/ her nomination after thorough due diligence. We are glad to have found a true champion of social justice issues in Sailesh Mishra and wish that more and more citizens gave their time, involvement and humane feelings towards addressing social justice issues and being the change and role models for other citizens to follow,” Almeida added.

The CtrlS - iCONGO promoted “KARMAVEER PURASKAAR (KVP)” are the Global Awards for Social Justice and Citizen Action instituted by the people sector & civil society with various partner organisations, citizens at large and media supporters. Be the change you want to see in this world is what every KARMAVEER inherently believes and practices.

The awards are given every year on the 26th day of November, our National Social Justice and Citizen Action Day, the day we adopted our constitutional pledge as a REPUBLIC and Indian Citizens in 1949.

The “KARMAVEER PURASKAAR” awards ceremony has over the years become a “MELTING POT” where People from India & Global Citizens that comprise individuals ranging from princes and princesses to global bestselling authors, young politicians, statesmen, bureaucrats, ambassadors, actors, singers, captains of industry, media professionals, development workers, young adults, students, school children, homemakers, academicians, slum workers and others who come “TOGETHER as ONE to RIGHT every WRONG”. 


About Karmaveer Puraskaar:

The Karmaveer Puraskaar is the global civilian honours given by the international confederation of NGO (iCONGO) in partnership with United Nations to the people across the globe for relentless courage. The award is tribute to the A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, 11th President of India, who had offered to be the ambassador for the awards and international volunteering olympiad.
The award is presented annually in mid of November to individuals and organisations in broad categories like activism, education, volunteering and healthcare. Some of the recipients are Joyanto Mukherjee, Deepika Narayan Bhardwaj, Harish Iyer, Hariharan Iyer, Dr. Shruti Kapoor, Manju LathaKalanidhi, RtnSayantan Sinha, Dr.RenuAgrawal,BinayakDewan,JyotiDhawale, Kajol, GeetaSankar, Sudha Menon among many others.

Verghese Kurien known as father of the white revolution of India is the first recipient of Karmaveer lifetime achievement award.




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Credit: Reports and photographs are property of owners of intellectual rights. Seniors World Chronicle, a not-for-profit, serves to chronicle and widen their reach.

Old and vulnerable: Senior citizens await national policy to safeguard rights: Pakistan

PAKISTAN News

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan lacks a national policy and legislation to safeguard the fundamental rights of around 12 million senior citizens.

Though a national policy has been finalised, it remains pending with the Capital Administration and Development Division for the last one year. Only the K-P government has approved Senior Citizen Act 2014. The Punjab government has finalised the bill but its cabinet has stalled progress while the Sindh government has presented it in its assembly.

On the World Elder Abuse awareness day, Waqas Qureshi, advocacy and communication coordinator at Help Age International, said the policy was drafted with a two-year delay.

Talking to The Express Tribune, he said it was still waiting to be presented before the National Assembly for a year. He believed that the major reason behind the delay was the government’s attitude as the issue was not on its priority list.

“They do not have dedicated health care centres or proper public transport facilities. They do not even shelter homes where they can live in respect and dignity after being deserted by family members. We can see many senior persons begging on the road as they do not have any source of income,” he said.

According to UNFPA and HelpAge International report, there are 11.6 million people over 60 in Pakistan. This figure will rise to 43.3 million by 2050, making it 15.8% of the total population.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 21^st, 2015.

Source: http://tribune.com.pk/story/907193/old-and-vulnerable-senior-citizens-await-national-policy-to-safeguard-rights/ 

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Credit: Reports and photographs are property of owners of intellectual rights. Seniors World Chronicle, a not-for-profit, serves to chronicle and widen their reach.

Silver Innings, a social enterprise celebrates it's 6th Foundation Day

 MUMBAI , INDIA / NGO / APRIL 10TH 2014  

 

“A change agent is someone who has an inner flame  pushing them out into the world to improve it. My work at the Silver Innings is to feed that flame so it grows into a bonfire. My hope is that each person’s flame will grow to be so bright that one day we will create Elder Friendly World where Ageing becomes a Positive and Rewarding Experience”  

: Sailesh Mishra , Founder President, Silver Innings   

Today 10th April 2014 on our Foundation Day, its an amazing experience, completing 6 Years, Silver Innings has become a movement, a trend setter with its uniqueness and innovative Positive approach towards Ageing. 

We take this opportunity to Thank all our supporters, well wishers , colleagues , friends , partners and all Elders for their continuous support and blessings. 

We still remember that day, 10th April 2008, our Social Enterprise organization 'Silver Innings' was launched with website www.silverinnings.com to work With Senior Citizens to provide need base service to Senior Citizens and their family members.

The idea behind Silver innings was to take the fear out of ageing by empowering the elders and bringing dignity in their lives Who’s afraid of ageing? Is what the team at Silver Innings believes in. 

Silver Innings was born with idea of a new beginning for our elders. It is a new path, the journey of successful ageing. It is an initiative that was started by my young change-makers team , Hendi Lingiah, (France), Prof Parul Kibliwala (India,SNDT) Bhavesh Chheda (Web designer,India) and Sailesh Mishra(Marketing Professional, India)  who were far removed in distance but united in the cause of elders. 

The idea was germinated by our founder Sailesh Mishra and took root with the support and contribution of these individuals and many more people, to list them all will be an endless list. Silver Innings took form as a one stop destination for dissemination of information and resources for the elders and their family members. The social enterprise opened a platform for discussing issues regarding the elders and soon a need for a social organisation emerged. Taking on this gaping need, Silver Inning Foundation a NGO was born in July 2008 to address  the micro and macro level issues of the elderly to create an elder friendly world.

Silver Innings had taken a bold and innovative step to address the issues concerning elders with the help of technology by proactively using ICT in creating awareness and sensitization. It believes in partnerships and networking and uses various platforms, NGOs, educational institutes, medical institutes to promote the cause. It is trying to break the centralised system by reaching out to the elderly where they are situated and empowering them to find resources within them to deal with the issues.

Silver Innings believes in creating an environment and understanding of ageing as a positive and beautiful experience with no negativity attached to it.  A few organisations in recent years were addressing some of the issues of the elderly. However there was a need for better marketing of the issues of the elderly with proactive participation, networking and advocacy towards the cause. A non-discriminatory, approach was needed since most of the organisation working for elder care were addressing the elites on the one hand and the down trodden on the other but the middle class was somehow left out of this outreach. 

Silver Innings has a vision that after 20 / 30 years Silver Inning Foundation (SIF) , NGO will ceases to operate, elders won’t any more need any NGO’s and we believes that NGO’s should not survive on stakeholders.There will be only service and product providers.That's why Silver Innings is working towards creating Elder Friendly World where Ageing becomes a Positive and Rewarding Experience. Now its like monopoly of handful organisations but it should be consumer driven market. A social innovation and Social Entrepreneur module will make huge difference to other wise most neglected and ignored sector of Senior Citizens globally. 

Our Sixth year 2013-14 was an Interesting year with lots of ups and down , but with limited funds and human resources we could still make some difference with events like Lectures , Workshop, Training, World days events, Heath  camps,  Advocacy , Participation in national and international conference's and also with some concrete New Initiative such as : 

Silver Innings Matrimonial & Companionship, A match making bureau for senior citizens, launched in April 2013

Silver Innings FC ( Foot ball club of youths playing for cause  of Elders)  we won all the matches in Div III group E , we were the topper , launched in July 2013

A1 Snehanjali, Assisted living elder care home (for Alzheimer's, Dementia, Parkinson and Very old) , one of its kind in Mumbai city ( Nalasopara west) , Launched in Aug 2013

Koffee with Kahani, launched in Dec 2013 with ‘The Metrognome’ a  Inter-generation programme promoting story telling 

'Silver Innings' Registered as Trade Mark 

16 vs 60 Cricket match (between Youths and Senior Citizens)  launched in Jan 2014, Inter-generation programme with sports 

Silver Innings Helpline, India’s first online helpline portal only for Senior Citizens , Launched in Feb 2014, a brain child of Ramaa Subramanium, co founder 

Our work was also appreciated when our founder Sailesh Mishra was Awarded with Rotary Club Award , Dec 2013.

It was one of the important milestone with Book Launch of  ‘Karma Kurry for the mind, body, heart and soul’ in Dec 2013 Book published by Jaico with ‘Son of Million Parents’ our founder Sailesh Mishra change maker story.

We also got covered in many media, print in English and local languages  but one of the important one, to be mentioned is Electronic Media Interview of our Founder Sailesh Mishra regarding Old Age Homes and Senior Citizens issues at World Islamic Network's WIN TV 'Haqeeqat  Telecast on 13th April 2013. 

  

Doing all this we never realized when we had reached out to one million people globally.  

Some real time Statics will give you an idea of our proactive online activity, being pioneer in Asia using social media as tool for cause of aging :

Silver Innings (SI) Group Outreach  Reach Out , as on  9th April  2014                                          

           

Website and Publications:

                                                           

Websites :   Total Hits 1,71,187                                                         

www.silverinnings.com  :  1,10,765 hit  (since April 2008 )                                                 

http://a1snehanjali.com/  :  3841 hits  (since Dec 2013)                                                         

http://silverinningshelpline.com/  : 2581 (since 16th Feb 2014)                                                         

http://silverinningfoundation.org/   :  Under Construction                                                    

                                               

Blogs:   Total Hits  2,66,512                                                  

People for Social Cause Blog: 1,32,190 (since July 2007 )                                                   

Silver Innings blog :1,04,813 hit (Since April 2008 )                                                

Alzheimer’s Society (ARDSI), Greater Mumbai Blog: 17,996 hit   (Since Jan 2011)  - Managed by SI

Missing Senior Citizen Alert Blog9,754 Hit ( Since 25th Nov 2011)

Silver Innings Matrimonial and Companionship :  1759  ( April 2013)    

Acquired Blog:                                                     

Seniors World Chronicle  10,78,372 Hits (acquired on 8th May 2012)                                                        

                                   

Social Media:                           

Total Followers/ Friends : 8093                                                         

Facebook :6000 Followers/Friends (including personal)                                           

Twitter            :2093 Followers          (Including Personal)                           

                                                           

Facebook Pages / Community : Total Likes 3109                                                     

Youth for Seniors: 579 (Since July 2010)                              

Silver Inning Foundation: 439 (April 2008)                          

Silver Innings Matrimonial & Companionship: 109 (April 2013)                              

Silver Innings: 604 ( April 2008)                               

Silver Innings Young at Heart (Talent): 77 (Since 1st March 2014)             

World Elder Abuse Awareness Day: 232 (Since 2010)                                

The International Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse (INPEA): 532 (since 2011)  Managed by SI  A1 Snehanjali: 285 (since July 2013)

Silver Innings Dementia Management Services(SIDMS): 91 (since April 2012)      

Silver Innings FC : 51 (Since July 2013)                               

Celebrating Age (Event):  110 (Since 2012)                          

           

Facebook Groups : Total Members  2559                                          

Missing Senior Citizen Alert: 700                              

Alzheimer's Related Disorder Society of India (ARDSI): 975 Managed by SI       

World Elder Abuse Awareness Day: 460                              

Senior Citizens National Solidarity Day 16th Aug: 354 Managed by SI      

Online Newspaper:                                                    

Silver Innings Newspaper (Paper li ):  77 subscriber                         

Dementia & Alzheimer's Times :  83 Subscriber        

Total Outreach For Social Media including Websites and blogs:   13,95,670 - 9th April 2014                    

                                                           

Silver Innings Members : 5000  ( since April 2008 )    

                                             

Meri News.com - Citizen Journalism  : 36 Article published : 72,000 hits (5 years)           

                                      

Reach Out  / Impact :                                                  

Indirect: 10, 00,000 plus people globally (through ICT - internet) since April 2008       

                             

Direct: approx  1,00,000 people in India since April 2008    

                                               

Yes we all are the Change to make this society for all Ages.

From 

Team Silver Innings

silverinnings@gmail.com 

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Credit: Reports and photographs are property of owners of intellectual rights. Seniors World Chronicle, a not-for-profit, serves to chronicle and widen their reach.

Silver Inning Foundation’s Journey- A Cascade of Unconventional Approaches

MUMBAI , INDIA / SOCIAL MEDIA / MAY 22nd 2013

Case Study: Silver Inning Foundation’s Journey- A Cascade of Unconventional Approaches : by : Anjali Saigal ,NMIMS University Part Time MBA(Social Entrepreneurship) , Under Guidance of Dr Manjari Srivastava

Case Synopsis

A major challenge that India is facing  is the progressive ageing of the population, including the risk of a growing gap between the generations. Especially as fast developing new technologies increase the distance between the younger and the older generations. Silver Innings Foundation (SIF) was formed to address the micro and macro level issues of the elderly to create an elder friendly world. It had decided to proactively use Information and Communications Technology (ICT), Social media and networking to sensitize the community and society towards the cause of Elderly and promote intergenrational programmes and empower elders in their own community / locality. It has attempted to bring young people and seniors together and tackling the “digital divide” Other inclusive activity like Foot D Ball to Stop Elder Abuse, youth tying purple band to senior citizen etc were successfully implemented. In June 2011 it became a part of The joint action committee (JAC) consisting of 23 organizations which work for the welfare of senior citizens in Maharashtra/Mumbai and decided to go on state-wide agitation from June 2011 against the non-implementation of 1999 National Policy of Older Person, (NPOP).

Additionally SIF  provided a  wide range of innovative, good quality services for elderly based on their changing needs. It wants to have an age integrated society and promote intergenerational activities to ensure social cohesion. 

The Study 

Sailesh Mishra was reflecting on his journey  as a  founder president  of Silver Innings Foundation (SIF)  while waiting for his flight to UN headquarters in New York where he was invited to participate in Third Session of the prestigious ‘Open-ended Working Group on Ageing(OEWG). An idea germinated by him took shape in 2008 with help of four individuals, Hendi Lingiah, (France), Prof Parul Kibliwala (India, SNDT Women’s University), Swati Ingole (MSW, Mumbai, India) detailed background in Appendix 1 in form of Silver Innings Foundation to address the micro and macro level issues of the elderly to create an elder friendly world. Sailesh left his corporate job for his passion to work with Senior Citizens, which he believed was the most neglected and ignored segment.  He wanted the government, the public at large to give the elderly their rights and to take responsibility for their development.  He wanted them to take efforts to integrate older people in their daily activities and not isolate them.  The turning point in his life was the death of an resident staying in Dignity Lifestyle Township for the elderly and for who suffered from dementia. The son of the deceased man living in Canada when informed about his father’s death, coldly asked them to cremate the body. That is when Mr. Mishra realized that there was a need to sensitize elders and their family members about ageing.  It was evident to him that the Indian society was changing rapidly. The value systems and family structure once India was proud of have seen a sea change. Nuclear family had been on the rise and sometimes even the aged parents were left to fend for themselves. Senior citizens homes or old age homes/communities were no longer alien concepts in India. It was a solution sought by most from the so called modern and educated generation. A majority of the old age homes or day care centres did not cater to the senior population suffering from Alzheimer’s and dementia. There were only a handful like Helpage India , Dignity Foundation.  Mr. Mishra initially set up a website with a couple of friends, to sensitize people about the issues relating to ageing and elders concentrating on Alzheimer’s and Dementia. 

He wanted to move away from “push” (one-way) communications and to move towards a type of communication in which the seniors and youth can interact with, listen to and engage constituents. The decision was taken to proactively use Information and Communications Technology (ICT), social media and networking to facilitate in the sensitization of the community and society towards the cause of elderly and promote intergenerational programmes and empower elders in their own community / locality.

Silver Innings Foundation (SIF) was established with a vision is of creating an elder friendly world in which ageing becomes a positive, rewarding experience. Its mission was to uphold and secure the rights of elderly and actively work towards improving their quality of life by networking, advocating and researching elderly issues and providing a wide range of services according to their needs. Its objectives listed as the 10 commandments was to mainly to work with elderly and to provide wide range of innovative, good quality services for elderly based on their changing needs and to utilize their experience, knowledge and skills for the betterment of themselves and society.  

 The organization was registered as a trust in 2008 with five trustees and five office bearers. The office bearers including the founder president Mr Sailesh Mishra was involved in day to day working of the organization. There were only two paid staff and 85% of the work was done by Mr Mishra, Bhavesh Chheda handled the creativity and technological aspect and the Mr .Chittranjan contributed to only 5% by assisting in networking and linkages.  Volunteers and consultants were recruited programwise as per the requirement.

SIF was started with seed funding from Unltd India in 2008 and until they got tax exemption certificate, the fund requirement till date is mostly met by personal savings and small donations from friends, relatives and well wishers. Accumulating financial resources to set up this foundation or to scale up had been a challenge since day of inception as evident from their account statements in Appendix 3. Alternative and cheaper ways like social media were essential in promoting the cause and sensitizing the people.

Social Media and SIF

The “New Web” has been incremental in transforming the way people interact and even the way they think. It has started to occupy a vital portion of many organizational and business strategies at all levels. The need for utilizing these technologies for non profits is becoming more evident.

Social media platforms have the ability to help NGOs by providing various strategic tools for engagement as follows.

• It has been imperative in building relationships with stakeholders and communities and also networking and fundraising.
• It has been facilitating campaigning to a large and sometimes even specific group allowing for more reach at a cheaper cost.
• With the huge and steady increase in the numbers of social media users worldwide and across various platforms (pcs, Mobile phones etc.), social media has become an opportunity for non profits to share their messages with the masses using free tools available to support the vision and objectives of such organizations.
• Social media has attempted to bridge the ever-increasing divide between the youth and the elderly.

The computer and the Internet are not usually associated with senior citizens, but SIF  decided to use the Internet to highlight the plight of the elderly in the city. The first thing they did in 2008 was float a virtual space online and launched a one-stop information portal www.silverinnings.com which served as a single-point destination for senior citizens. They put up information on helplines, old age homes, and police station numbers. Additionally they also began addressing issues like ageism, Alzheimer’s, dementia care management and memory loss, which had been affecting a number of senior citizens included information on how to make a will too.

The foundation’s creative head, Bhavesh Chheda analyzed the internet usage patterns among senior citizens across the country decided to set up an exclusive blog space where senior citizens could

• Discuss important issues and the problems they were facing.
• Senior citizens would be able to interact with each other and share their problems and also combat one of the key issues of loneliness.
• It provided space for the youth to interact with their elders

SIF and Its Unconventional Approaches

Sailesh Mishra’s main intention with SIF was to network with likeminded organization and not to work in isolation but in partnership with other service oriented organization. 

In a first-of-its-kind initiative they conducted training for senior citizens in partnership with Sterlite Foundation in three centres in Mumbai to familiarize them with computers and technological advances that go with it. They provided training in regional languages to make the senior citizens understand better. It served dual purpose as the knowledge and teaching classes would keep them occupied and it would also yield opportunities for retired senior citizens to have a second career. They strongly believed that technology could bridge the gap and create synergy between the youth and the senior citizen bringing them on a common platform.  

To create awareness it used ‘Silver Inning Newspaper’ which was created in ‘Paper.li'  that automatically creates an online Daily Newspaper about topics related to senior citizen Alzheimer , Dementia. Subscribers would receive their online newspaper each day filled with top stories around the same content topic. It’s a great way for you to automatically aggregate online content relevant to your topic and push it out to your online community. Till date they have had 88 subscribers belonging to different age groups.

SIF became a referral NGO 24 x 7 Senior Citizen’s Referral Helpline that was started by The Nargis Dutt Memorial Charitable Trust along with Dial ‘1298’ for Ambulance in association with Help Age India, Harmony for Silvers Foundation & The Federation Of Senior Citizens' Organizations Of Maharashtra (FESCOM) in 2010. It was set up with the aim to be a one-stop destination for information for the elderly and their family members and has been receiving more than 100 calls daily since. The calls relate to information regarding the elder care by families but more relate to senior citizens who have been harassed by their family members/ friends. Many cases are specifically related to legal and property maintenance.

In 2011 pilot project “Foot D Ball to Stop Elder Abuse” along with Team Alfresco FC –Mumbai.  This event used a holistic approach to promote ‘Sports for Development’ through Football. SIF believed that fusion and synergy between youth & elders will help them to achieve their vision of creating elder friendly world where ageing becomes a positive and rewarding experience.

This intergeneration activity with sports for development concept through football was tried for first ever time in this part of the world for promoting Elder Cause and to create awareness about Elder Abuse in civil society. Football has been one of the most patronized sports around the world. Organizations driven by local social entrepreneurs, use the power of the beautiful game to positively transform their communities. Development through football has been an important issue within the development cooperation and social work sectors. SIF recognized the potential that football and other sports could unleash when systematically included in processes of social change. Football especially has the power to unite people and cultures all over the world. As a team sport it promotes fairness and tolerance, leapfrogs gender boundaries and fosters mutual understanding, thereby contributing to the positive development of personality and character.

It also introduced Purple Security Band inscribed with the words stop elder abuse during the match . It involved the youth tying these purple bands to the elders. The rationale behind this was to create awareness amongst the youth and opening channels of communication between the youth and the senior citizens.

 

SIF and  Advocacy

Elder Abuse as explained by SIF occurs with the family. It can be in any form most prominent being the children and grandchildren disrespecting the elders, back answering them, intentionally disturbing them , play television music systems etc very loudly . Government is also doing a lot through its Legislative & Executive Machinery for Senior Citizens by laying down an extra ordinary National Policy on Older Persons 1999 and the Maintenance & Welfare of Parents & Senior Citizens Bill, 2007 etc but Government Abuse of Senior Citizens is lethargy in their implementation. Judiciary, although empowered and instructed to expedite cases of Senior Citizens, little progress is achieved (Ruparelia, n.d.).

On 15 June 2008 SIF launched an Online Petition to address the issue of Elder Abuse and this  was one of the effective medium to create awareness and petition the Central and State Government and the Society at large with the problem and recommendation.

The petition broadly classified elder abuse in different categories and it laid emphasis that the problem of elder abuse has to be dealt with on both ‘micro’ and ‘macro’ levels. Also, a multi-pronged approach which was required from different professionals who have an adequate understanding of the phenomenon of elder abuse, the dynamics of ageing, abuse within and outside the family, cultural and societal influences, of appropriate helping strategies to implement this knowledge and listed down  recommendations .

In response to the injustice and neglect of senior citizen, 16th August 2010 was observed as a National Protest Day.  It supported a  demand a separate Ministry and Elder Right protection Law for 90 million Elderly in India. It requested the government to view of active NGO and stake holders before finalizing the new National Policy for Older Persons (NPOP) of 1999. In June 2011 it became a part of The joint action committee (JAC) consisting of 23 organizations which work for the welfare of senior citizens in Maharashtra/Mumbai and decided to go on state-wide agitation from June 2011 against the non-implementation of 1999 National Policy of Older Person, (NPOP). The joint action committee demanded declaration of State Policy for Senior Citizens, which the committee has claimed is lying unimplemented since 2002. It also insisted on formation of State Council of Senior Citizens and Commission, under the Chairmanship of the Minister of Social Justice for effective promotion and coordination of the concerns of senior citizens and establishment of multi-service day care centres, so that they can be utilized in social activities and for improvement in physical and mental health of the elderly. Activists have claimed that has been no support or funds from the government, agencies, or corporate sector for the elderly, in the state that has around one crore senior citizens (60 +), out of which 66 per cent are poor, while 90 per cent lack social or health security. They further asserted that in the 2011-12 state budget the government has conveniently ignored the implementation of those policies which it had deemed as vital for the welfare of the elderly (Mishra, 2010).

As a result of nationwide activity, there has been some semblance of positive action from the Central Government such as concessions in Income Tax structure, Railway fares, quantum of Old Age Pension, eligibility criteria for concessions etc. There are also numerous glaring disparities in payment of pensions to retirees from different sectors, causing severe hardship in some cases. These need to be highlighted and their redressal sought. 

The UN Open-ended Working Group on Ageing (OEWG) was established by the General Assembly in 2010. SIF got accredited to the same in 2011 with the purpose of strengthening the protection of the human rights of older persons in India . SIF was represented by Sailesh Mishra  at Third Session held in 2012. On the opening day, the Indian ambassador gave a rosy picture of the current scenario of health care for the elderly in India. He even had the nerve to say, “Why do the elderly need rights? Their development is the responsibility of the society and their families. What can the government do?

He was asked to make an opening statement on the floor of the house the next day and was amongst the six that made oral presentation that day. He emphasized on major five gaps that need immediate attention (Appendix 6) through National and International Instrument (Mishra, Official Statement of Silver Inning Foundation, 2012. He Observed that of the member states, Costa Rica and Argentina were the most passionate about promoting the cause of gerontology. These two would even hold a briefing for NGOs every morning. But the EU and the USA were extremely against the state having a stake in elders care, because they do not want to spend on it. An interesting dimension to this issue, he noted was that the Western countries, while reducing budgets assigned to social welfare, are aggressively studying the family concepts prevalent in south Asian countries, where parents and their children live together all their lives. But by contrast, we in India are going towards the Western concept of nuclear families and even smaller units. Where does that leave our elders?

But what he took away from his UN outing was the inspiration he felt after meeting people who had been working for the cause of elder care for decades which also motivated him to believe that he was on the right track and he still has a lot to learn.

SIF and Others.

SIF strongly believes in collaborating and networking to provide a better platform. Of all the players working in this space only Dignity foundation is working in isolation and catering to a niche group. Rest all like ARDSI (Alzheimer’s Society India) , Helpage , Harmony , FWA (The Family Welfare Agency) etc support each other immensely by sharing resources and knowledge. SIF also networks and has build relations with other NGO’s not related to senior ctizens like Mobile Creche , magic bus.

What’s Next

A child never writes to a grandparent maybe only school compositions directed to the teacher's eyes only. SIF used strategy for getting kids and senior citizen to talk to each other on paper to promote cross-generational written communication.  

Additionally it wants to create opportunities for intergenerational interaction and accelerate its efforts and include innovative strategies that synergize and move in concerted direction towards an age-integrated society where intergenerational interaction is natural across the domains of family, community and the workplace. 

Overcoming scarcity of financial resources needs to be addressed for reaching this goal. How can it grow its reach and cater to other social groups ? It has started experimenting with  entrepreneurial activities which include consultancy for  senior citizen residences , day care centres, providing training on soft skills to develop paramedical staff to take care of the elderly and latest being matrimonial services for the 50+ .

Generating funds by developing entrepreneur activities appears to be the most feasible solution. Though it will reduce dependence on donations and grants and make SIF financially sustainable but is it appropriate to generate funds from already neglected section of the society ?

Acknowledgment

I acknowledge with gratitude the guidance by Dr. Manjari Srivastava  in preparing this case study. But for her timely and prompt inputs this would have been a seemingly arduous task to accomplish.

I take this opportunity to profusely thank Mr Sailesh Mishra for his valuable time, inputs and constant help and support in my effort all along.

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