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.

Good intent, lackadaisical implementation

MUMBAI ,INDIA / ONE INDIA ONE PEOPLE  / SOCIAL SECURITY / JUNE 1st 2013


Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pension Scheme in India (IGNOAPS), a scheme aimed at providing financial security to the destitute aged living below poverty line fails to achieve its goal because of lackadaisical implemenation, writes Dr. Nidhi Mishra. 

Old age brings with it lot of challenges, a major one is that of financial insecurity. Financial security of elderly in general and particularly of those belonging to BPL category has been a matter of concern, and due to increase in longevity, old age health care expenses, increasing cost of living, the problem has only compounded. Due to lower or negligible family income and rise in the cost of living, the poor often find it difficult to depend on their family for financial support, and thus the role of government becomes important in providing financial security to the destitute aged in our country.
 

Overview of Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pension Scheme (IGNOAPS)

Realising the pressing need to provide financial security to the destitute elderly, the IGNOAPSGovernment of India (GOI) launched the National Old Age Pension Scheme (NOAPS) under the National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP) of the Ministry of Rural Development, on 15 August 1995. Like other schemes of NSAP, this scheme is in line with Article 41 of the Constitution of India which directs the State to provide “public assistance to its citizens in case of unemployment, old age, sickness and disablement and in other cases of undeserved want within the limits of its economic capacity and development.”

On 19 November 2007, NOAPS was renamed as Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pension Scheme (IGNOAPS) and to widen its scope it has been extended to the elderly who fall Below Poverty Line (BPL). Initially under this scheme, all destitute elderly aged 65 years or above were provided a pension amount of `75 per month. Subsequently, with effect from 1 April 2006, the pension amount was increased to `200 per month per person in order to make this scheme more effective and the state governments were requested by central government to contribute a matching amount for each beneficiary of this scheme. It has been noted that not all states are contributing an equal amount of `200 per person per month to the pension.

To further improve the effectiveness of this scheme, with effect from 1 April 2011, the eligibility age for this scheme has been reduced from 65 to 60 years and the amount of pension has been raised from `200 to `500 per month for those who are 80 years or above.

The other two schemes under NSAP– Annapurna Scheme and Indira Gandhi National Widow Pension Scheme (IGNWPS) are linked to IGNOAPS in a way that under Annapurna Scheme ten kilograms of food grains are provided free of cost to those BPL elderly who though eligible, have not been covered under the IGNOAPS. And under IGNWPS, once the BPL widows reach the age of 60 years they are transferred to IGNOAPS.

The Annual Report (2012-13) of the Ministry of Rural Development, GOI, highlights coverage of 223.18 lakh BPL elderly all over India, where the highest number of beneficiaries were reported in Bihar (37.87 lakh), followed by Uttar Pradesh (37.67 lakh) and Odisha (17.77 lakh). The total expenditure reported under NSAP for the year 2012-2013 is `4855.77 crore, although a total of `8447.30 crore was allocated for it. IGNOAPS is a part of NSAP and is allotted a major portion of the funds, however, the exact breakup of scheme wise budget allocation under NSAP is not available in the annual report or on the website of Ministry of Rural Development. 

Benefits

The IGNOAPS is praiseworthy, as this is the first ever national level scheme which provides economic security to the poor elderly and widows who would have either been dependent on their family’s limited income or would have been forced to lead a neglected life. This aspect has also been highlighted in one of the participatory study conducted in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh by the NGO HelpAge India in 2008, where responses of participants indicated that IGNOAPS plays a very important role in poverty reduction. 

Limitations

Over the years, government bodies and social scientists have highlighted some limitations of this scheme mainly in terms of its improper implementation. A research paper jointly published by four professors from Harvard School of Public Health in 2010 highlighted weak targeting of beneficiaries which is generally based on combination of a survey based definition of poverty and community identification of the poor as a major problem related to implementation of this scheme.

In a survey conducted by United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) India in 2012, covering a total of 9,852 elderly in the seven states of India which have higher proportion of elderly viz. Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Maharashtra, Orissa, Punjab, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, the problem of wrong targeting was observed. While investigating the utilisation of IGNOAPS, it was found that some non-BPL elderly were also availing the scheme. It was also observed that there was low awareness of this scheme among the beneficiaries, thus raising the need for effective steps to be taken by the government to promote the scheme.
Another targeting issue identified in assessments of this scheme is the difficulty of determining the age of a person, particularly in rural areas. Along with this some researchers (Anand and Kumar, 2006) have also highlighted that while from a macro perspective IGNOAPS seems to be working well, and meeting its many objectives, a micro analysis shows that there are gaps in areas like distribution and the identification of beneficiaries.

In an assessment report of Ministry of Rural Development (2006) it was found that the IGNOAPS is lacking on two grounds which cut across states: (i) it involves complex administrative procedures and, therefore, proves especially difficult for the illiterates, and (ii) the size of programme beneficiaries is capped artificially by using an arbitrary ceiling formula. 

Conclusion and recommendation

It is clear that IGNOAPS is a useful scheme for elderly below poverty line, however, it is facing problems of improper implementation such as wrong targeting, limited coverage and irregular payment of pension which needs to be strongly dealt by the government through improvement of coordination between its various bodies. Also through an effective monitoring and evaluation mechanism the problem of wrong targeting and irregular payments can be controlled by the government. Along with this proper need assessment should be done by the government for effective coverage of the scheme. Additionally, the government should publicise the scheme especially in rural areas and slums for creating awareness amongst potential beneficiaries. Civil society can also play an important role by conducting training programmes for the targeted beneficiaries.

Dr. Nidhi Mishra ,The writer is working at Tata Institute of Social Sciences for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Ageing project in India.

©One India One People Foundation 2013.

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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.

Love is waiting to bloom in the silver years

MUMBAI, INDIA / EVENT / March 14th , 2013 

For the first time in India, live in relationship / companionship options, besides marriage; have been included in a unique match-making initiative for senior citizens, to be organized in Mumbai by the Rotary Club of Mumbai Nariman Point, in association with Silver Inning Foundation and Vina Mulya Amulya Sewa (VMAS). This is the ‘Senior Citizens Jeevan Saathi Samelan’, for the 50+ who are not married, divorced or widowed and seek the company of a soul mate. This Full day event will be held on 7th April 2013 at 10:00 am at the Dadar Matunga Cultural Centre, 122-A, J K Sawant Marg, Opp Bombay Glass Works, Mahim West, Next to Yashwant Natya Mandir ,  Mumbai 400 016, where senior citizens from across the country are expected to participate in large numbers. Entry is free and caste, creed, sex, location across the country, faith and community is no bar.

The UNFPA report attributes the demographic transition to declining fertility in the reproductive age group and increased longevity. UN projections suggest that India is “gradually but surely transitioning away from a young age structure with the elderly population soon outnumbering children in India”.

In the social scenario, where the joint families are breaking down, old people’s health, security issues and psychological issues have to be handled.

With nuclear families becoming the order of the day, senior citizens are often left to fend for themselves, even in times of need. Isolation, the feeling of rejection, gradually cause them to withdraw from active social lives; they retreat into their solitary cocoons, often falling into depression.   In lonely and depressing old age for those who are divorced or have lost their spouse and by taking up this initiative we hope to help elderly singles to find a suitable companion and enter into matrimony.

A major transition into old age occurs due to the loss of spouse that contributes to a feeling of increased insecurity among both men and women. The 2001 Census analysis shows that the differential in marital status by sex is more pronounced among the elderly. Among the elderly, 82 per cent of men and 47 per cent of women were still married. About half of all elderly women were widowed while only 15 per cent of elderly men were widowers. In more advanced age of 80 years and above, widowhood dominates the status for women with 71 per cent of women and only 29 per cent of men having lost their spouses. These differentials reflect the marriage and mortality patterns in which a majority of Indian men who survive to the age of 60 are still married state while more than half of the older women live without their spouse.

Not having a spouse in the older ages is a cause for concern for both men and women. Studies from other parts of the world have shown that those who are married have better health than those who are not, but this relationship is more apparent in the case of older men compared to older women (Goldman et. al., 1995; Bose and Gangrade, 1988). For Indian women who have lost their spouse, financial security poses a problem, since women generally do not own land or other assets and are dependent on their children, particularly sons. In fact, research on widows in India by Marty Chen (1998) and others indicates that there is a high level of poverty among women in India upon becoming widows.

Longer life expectancy gives many people the opportunity to form new relationships at advanced ages, and it makes sense emotionally to find someone to enjoy old age with. In many cases, it makes good financial sense to marry when you're older, but social security and tax laws discourage marrying after 60 for some individuals. Each person must balance cultural and religious beliefs with financial considerations to decide whether or not marrying after 60 is best for them.

“There is a difference between what men and women in their twilight years seek from a partnership,” says Natubhai Patel, 62, founder-chairman of VMAS and the brain behind the initiative. “For most men, companionship is the prime motive while for women financial security is the primary concern,” says Patel, who has successfully arranged more than 75 marriages and 25 live-in relationships through his pan-India venture since he established VMAS four years ago.

Sailesh Mishra founder president of Silver Inning Foundation Says ‘There is nothing wrong with a second marriage or remarriage after 60. The Elders should not feel guilty. This is one of the option / opportunity to bring happiness into their lives once again, by having a person to love and share a fulfilling life.  Companionship is the need of old age.

Rajiv Agarwal , president of Rotary Club of Mumbai Nariman Point say’s ‘‘ our club is supporting this programme as per our commitment for Elders and our major focus is to provide " companionship opportunities to the lonely elders , beside marriage " ’ . ‘The next generation is opening up to the idea, becoming more supportive of their elderly singles thinking of new companions in the silver years of their lives ' .

Lonely senior citizens in the city looking for companionship are now only a step away from finding a partner for the rest of their lives.

New Relationship & Love is waiting to bloom in the twilight years and we all need to support it with care and support.

This programme is supported by AISCCON, FESCOM, Mumbai; iVolunteers, iCONGO and 1298 Senior Citizens Helpline.

To attend the Sammelan prior registration is compulsory. Interested senior citizens from all over India may send

•           Their biodata , Registration Form can be asked

•           2 passport size photographs

•           A copy of the death certificate of the spouse, or documentary proof of divorce, whichever is relevant can be bought at the day of event

•           A valid copy ID proof can be bought at the time of event

by email to:  silverinnings@gmail.com

For more information call: Silver Inning Foundation 09987104233 / 09029000091 Email: silverinnings@gmail.com

Or Natubhai Patel of Vina Mulya Amulya Sewa (VMAS)   09825185876

A good companion shortens the longest road ...........................

 

Press Release by Silver Inning Foundation 

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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.

INDIA : 'National Conference on Ageing' 6th ,7th Nov 2012

NEW DELHI , INDIA / BUSINESS STANDARD / EVENT / OCT 26,2012

By Press Trust of India

Aiming to empower senior citizens and take stock of the social, financial and health issues faced by them, Social Justice and Empowerment Ministry (MSJE) will hold a two-day ageing conference here next month. 

The 'National Conference on Ageing' will bring together representatives of all state governments, key union ministries, organisations working in this sector and several imminent citizens to dwell upon the issues faced by senior citizens, a senior official from SJ&E Ministry said.

"The conference has been divided into four themes concerning older persons.The sessions will be chaired by senior officials from several ministries and organisations to shed light on the programs conducted by them for senior citizens and its response," he said.

The themes decided for the conference- planned for the first week of November- are Social and Economic Security of Older Persons, Health care, Family and Community Care, and focus on Special Elderly Groups consisting of senior citizens above 80 years. 

"Senior officials from ministries such as Home Affairs, Labour and Employment, Finance, Health and Rural Development, Planning Commission have been invited for conducting fruitful discussions over the policies concerning older persons," the official said. 

For holding discussions on pension and insurance schemes for senior citizens, SJ&E Ministry has invited representatives from pension and insurance regulatory authorities. 

NGO's dealings with United Nation's mandate for senior citizens have also been invited for the conference. 

 

"We have sent a special invitation to the Delhi Police to discuss physical security of these vulnerable people," he said. 

Several groups and sub-groups will be formed to conduct in-depth discussions and analyse the issues covered in the four original themes. 

"These group and sub-groups will present their recommendations and findings on the second day of the conference," the official said. 

During the course of discussion, the conference will also review various aspects related to senior citizens (Maintenance, Protection and Welfare) Act in various states and ways to ensure that it is implemented effectively. 

"Several states have yet not followed all the provisions of this act even after repeated reminders from the SJ&E Ministry.The Ministry will once again request these states to ensure its through implementation," he said. 

The Conference will be inaugurated by Social Justice and Empowerment Minister (MOSJE)  Mukul Wasnik who will also chair the final round of discussion on the second day.

 

Business Standard Copyright © 2012

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Seniors World Chronicle, a not-for-profit, serves to chronicle and widen their reach.

INDIA : A piece of Mumbai at the UN

MUMBAI , INDIA / THE METROGNOME / SOCIETY / OCT 20, 2012

By Vrushali Lad 

A slight and unassuming man, Sailesh Mishra (45) comes across as soft-spoken and pliable. But then he begins to describe how he got associated with the senior citizens episode on Aamir Khan’s TV show Satyameva Jayate. “I got a call from Aamir Khan Productions in September 2011. A woman called saying that she wanted to meet me for an episode they were shooting on senior citizens for the show. Since we get many such requests (at his Mira Road-based NGO Silver Innings), I asked them to send me a letter and then we’d see.

      Sailesh Mishra talks about representing India at the UN, and refusing to do Satyameva Jayate’s senior citizens episode in its original format.

The letter was brought the very next day, while the director of the show explained the concept of the episode in detail. But I soon realised that they were planning an episode to show elderly people as sad, abused, dependent human beings. I immediately told the lady, ‘Please tell Mr Khan that if this is what you want to portray on the show, I don’t want to be a part of it.”

Sailesh has always been a champion of the “happier side of old age”, which was why he started his NGO, Silver Innings, in 2008, as a means to help create a “sustainable gerontology”. He explains, “We often berate those who we feel are not taking care of the elders in the family. But you must understand, most children are not bad, they don’t wilfully neglect their parents. It is just that there are not enough options created by the government and society when it comes to elder care. Unlike in the West, we don’t have such services as assisted help for the elderly, or a service to provide groceries, or cooked food, or do other chores. We don’t even have enough NGOs that work for the causes of the elderly.”

Sailesh’s NGO was registered with the United Nations’ Open Ended Working Group (OEWG) on Ageing convention held annually in New York, last year, owing to the efforts of Susan Somers of the International Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse (INPEA). “I got the opportunity of participating in the 3^rd such OEWG held this year. 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?’”

To Sailesh’s huge amazement, he got the chance to make a statement on the floor of the House. “Only six people got a chance to speak that day, and I was the first,” he beams. “I gently but firmly refuted what the Indian ambassador had said, and I stressed the need for the government to be more proactive in implementing several schemes for the elderly in India. I didn’t see him for three days after that!” (Read Sailesh’s statement made on the floor of the House here.)

Of the member states, Costa Rica and Argentina were the most passionate about promoting the cause of gerontology, he says. “These two would even hold a briefing for NGOs every morning. But the EU and the US 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 says, is 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. “Meeting such dedicated people tells you that you are on the right track, and that you still have so much to learn,” Sailesh says.


His own brush with the elderly

In 2004, Sailesh was working with the Dignity Foundation, a time that he says was when he “accidentally came into this field.” He says, “Through the Foundation, I was sent to Neral to help in the building of the elders’ township. I found that getting the architecture changed to be senior citizen-friendly was an uphill task. The architect just couldn’t understand why I wanted land gradients to be gentle, why appliances and cabinets needed to be at eye level, why the fittings and fixtures had to easy to use,” he remembers.

He stayed on as a resident at the township, monitoring its daily working and putting in work at the 24-hour dementia centre there. “I had varied experiences while dealing with sufferers of dementia. Many times, we didn’t know how to deal with them. That set me thinking. Nobody discussed this issue, and there was nothing written about it.” He started writing articles about his experiences, posting them on the Internet. “I think I would have found this cause at some point in my life,” he muses. “I come from a family of 100 people, and we all stayed at a waada at Palghar. But when I was very young, my mother told me, ‘Don’t join in the family business. Do something different with your life. Everybody works for themselves, you should work for others.’”

He finally started Silver Innings and found the inner peace he had been looking for. “I give talks at several places, hold a lot of workshops, travel all over the country. But I never talk about the NGO. That was not why I started it. The focus has to be on the issue, and it is my job to plant the idea in as many people’s minds as I can.”


Engaging the young to help the old

Sailesh is a passionate user of social networking to further his cause, the rationale of which has been questioned by many. “People ask, ‘How many senior citizens use social networking? How will you reach them on the Internet?’ But I am actually targeting the youth and the middle-aged persons in industry. If I can convert them, they will go home and talk to their parents, or devise ways to reach out to the elderly,” he says.

A major problem facing India’s elderly is that their numbers are only set to rise in the coming years. “How are we, as a country, going to accommodate these huge numbers of people? It is time, and it has to be done right away, that the government actively think up ways to utilise this mass of people’s life experience, their working knowledge and their skills. What is the sense in forcing a person to retire at 60 years of age, if he or she is able to work? Also, there is an urgent need for industry to provide services to this huge untapped population. You can have small businesses that deliver cooked meals to elders living alone, or get elders in an area registered with a trusted firm that supplies domestic helps, repair mechanics and others. There is also a need to modify our architecture and infrastructure to become more elder-friendly. Most importantly, we need more old age homes (there are just six in Mumbai) and all of them should be inside the city, not banished to the outskirts.”

Sailesh Mishra can be contacted on silverinnings@gmail.com / sailesh@silverinnings.com. His NGO ' Silver Inning Foundation ' also runs an ageing centre, organises memory camps and runs an elder helpline, among other things.

© 2012 The Metrognome

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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.

UK: Society 'sanctioning violence' against elderly warns Cardinal

 LEICESTER UK / The Telegraph / Society / May 16, 2012

In a rare public intervention, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor said that there was a “subtle and silent” process of “dehumanising” older people at work through common attitudes. 

He said a loss of “reverence” for humanity meant that some of the most vulnerable people in society are now routinely viewed as a “problem” or “threat”.

And he said that political decisions to cut back on vital care services amounted to denying older people’s fundamental right to life.

The Cardinal retired as Archbishop of Westminster, and leader of the Catholic Church in England and Wales, three years ago.

Cardinal fears legalise assisted suicide could create 'collateral damage' on society

He remains the senior Cardinal in the British Isles and, alongside Cardinal Keith O’Brien in Scotland, he is a voting member of the body which will chose the next Pope – a position he will relinquish later this year when he turns 80. 

In a wide-ranging lecture at Leicester's Anglican Cathedral, he spoke of a “deep unease” in western society, the importance of the family unit, religious freedom and questions such as assisted suicide.

He warned of a tendency to view human beings as a “product” or a “commodity” resulting in people ultimately being viewed as “disposable”.

“Instead of regarding the elderly as a source of value in their own right, a resource for families and communities especially in an increasingly fragmented social and cultural world, we view them as a problem or a threat,” he said.

“We have lost that deep reverence for humanity in all its different conditions.”

He quoted Cicero to illustrate that debates about care for the elderly date back millennia.

“An ageing population certainly presents its challenges – not least to our prejudices – but it is also an extraordinary gift,” he continued.

“When society only sees age as an expensive inconvenience, a threat to resources and lifestyles, it no longer sees a person but a problem.

“This permits a slow erosion of dignity; subtly and silently the process of dehumanisation has begun.”

He went on: “A symptom of this is the violence against the vulnerable elderly now documented in a number of independent studies and reports and the neglect which many have to endure.

“You do not care for what you do not cherish.

"If we load the elderly, or indeed any group, with fears – the fear of dementia and Alzheimer’s, the fear of growing dependence and the loss of autonomy, the fear of exhausting resources – you sanction violence against them.

“This need not only be physical, it can take other forms: it can be cultural in the way in which we dismiss their views or blame them; it can be political in the ways in which we justify withdrawal of vital services or quietly and privately deny their right to life.”

He also voiced feared that attempts to legalise assisted suicide could create "collateral damage" on society and leave vulnerable elderly people exposed to “darker” motivations.

“Of course, there are compassionate relatives who give that assistance with great reluctance and out of genuine compassion,” he said.

“But there is a darker side to humanity that we ignore at our peril.

“Not all cases of assisted suicide represent the final act or acts of love or the culmination of a lifelong loving relationship.

“The trouble with enabling laws is that they have a tendency, once they are on the statute book, to encourage the acts that they enable.”

He added: “Laws are not precision guided missiles. They have a habit of inflicting collateral damage well beyond the intended target area.”

 © Copyright of Telegraph Media Group Limited 2012


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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.

UK : Elderly care funding should focus on poorest

LONDON  , UK / The Guardian / Society / May 7, 2012 

Report by Centre for Social Justice calls for resources to be concentrated on pensioners with few or no assets

By Nicholas Watt, chief political correspondent

Funding for the long-term care of elderly people should be targeted at the poorest with few or no assets, according to a report by Iain Duncan Smith's thinktank. In a direct challenge to the Dilnot commission, which called for an increase in support for those with assets, the report, by the Centre for Social Justice, calls for resources to be concentrated on pensioners solely dependent on state support.

Iain Duncan Smith's thinktank, the Centre for Social Justice, says low pay, poor training and lack of oversight has to led to 'very poor quality of home care for the most disadvantaged older people'. Photograph: Geoff Newton

The centre was established by the work and pensions secretary while he was in opposition. Its report, to be published on Tuesday, is likely to influence ministers as they consider their response to Dilnot. They are holding cross-party talks before the publication of a white paper setting out their proposals.

Dilnot recommended that the threshold of savings and assets above which the state stops offering help with care costs should rise from £23,250 to £100,000. Its other key recommendation was to impose a cap of £35,000 on the amount any individual would have to pay towards their own care costs during their lifetime.

But Transforming Social Care, the new report, sweeps aside these arguments and says the government should concentrate on the neediest pensioners. It is careful not to define who falls into this group, but it is thinking of those who are wholly dependent on the weekly state pension of £107.45 and have few or no other assets.

Christian Guy, managing director of the Centre for Social Justice, says: "Understandably, there is a lot of concern about better-off pensioners being forced to sell their homes and use the proceeds to pay for their care until they drop below the means-tested threshold. But ministers should make the most vulnerable people and the unacceptable conditions they face their first priority, then phase in the Dilnot recommendations so that help can be extended to all."

The centre says that any extra resources should be focused on the poorest members of the "extraordinary generation" who lived through the second world war, because they suffer most severely from the country's "broken" care system.

The report points out that of the 400,000 elderly people living in care homes, nearly two-thirds are funded by the state. Many, according to the centre, suffer poor care because councils use their purchasing power to drive down fees.

The centre says Dilnot "says little about ameliorating the current system, which is in large part failing many … Those proposals do not address the means-tested system for those who have not been fortunate enough to own their own houses but instead find themselves dependent on the state in their old age."

The CSJ report, which points out that nearly £1bn has been "stripped out of social care budgets in England" in the last year, warns that a failure to target resources on the neediest will have a major impact on the NHS.

"Older people, we know, account for two-thirds of overnight stays in hospitals … Free at the point of use, and always open, accident and emergency departments have in many of the most deprived areas become 'catch-alls' for suffering."

Sarah Pickup, chair of the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services, said the new report was a welcome reminder that implementing the Dilnot proposals on their own would not solve the crisis in adult social care.

"The CSJ is right to say that the commission has provided a good answer to the question about how to provide people with more certainty about the costs of care and to reduce the risk of catastrophic costs, but also to point out that solving this problem will not address the wider issue of the need for a level of funding which is sufficient to fund quality support and services to meet needs."

Labour questioned the premise of the CSJ report on the grounds that the current system already focuses on the poorest. People with combined income and assets above £23,250 have to pay for long-term care. Only pensioners with income and assets below £14,250 qualify for the maximum help from local council social care service. Councils have discretion for people with income and assets between those two figures.

Liz Kendall, the shadow social care minister, said: "The current social care system already focuses on the poorest and neediest in society. The problem is that the government's cuts to local council budgets have pushed the care system to breaking point.

"More than £1bn has been cut from council budgets for older people's social care since the coalition came to power. We need sufficient funding for existing services as well as reform for the future. It's a false choice to suggest otherwise."

© 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited 

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