An NGO has found a solution and claims that it is doing well. In August alone the NGO has helped around 1000 senior citizens find gainful employment, says Himanshu Rath of Agewell Foundation. "We provide them with work assistance like home tuitions, managerial jobs etc," he says.
Started in 1999 the Foundation's aim is to instill self-confidence in the senior citizens and to tell them that there is nothing wrong in becoming old. Our endeavour is to bring about a change in the perception of old age," says Himanshu Rath, who founded the organisation.
The NGO has its offices in 540 districts all over the country and says its employs services of professionals, senior bureaucrats, professors; artists, writers, judges - all people who sincerely feel for the cause. They are assisted by a huge base of volunteers and trained counselors.
"We interact with thousands of senior citizens all over the countary in a day. Our Delhi office gets around 200-250 calls a day," says Rath.
Around 8 per cent of Indian population consists of old age persons, while in Delhi, it is around 12 per cent. The most common problem that these people suffer from is of alienation. He feels that the primary cause of this problem is lack of dialogue between the senior citizens and their family members, which is due to "generation gap".
"When there are inter-personal problems, we mediate between senior people and their family members and in most cases, it turns out to be a problem of lack of communication," says Rath.
