02 Oct 2020  |   05:57am IST

Goa’s Senior Citizens feel insecure on International Day of Older Persons

Team Herald

Margao: On the International Day of Older Persons, also known as World Elders Day, the senior citizens of Goa are the ones who are feeling the most insecure due to the COVID-19 pandemic, as they are in the ‘high-risk’ category by virtue of their age. 

That aside, they feel unprotected and that not enough has been done to address their concerns.  Even from a general point view, they feel that there are not enough efforts from the government to improve the conditions of the lives and provide them with adequate facilities and assistance. 

While the entire country has an average of 7% of senior citizens in their population Goa has the highest i.e. 12% of senior citizens in the entire population.  Speaking on the occasion, the All Goa Senior Citizens Federation lamented that there is nothing for them to be cheerful about. "Senior Citizens are unprotected all over the world" said Federation President Diogo M Da Costa.

The NGO GOACAN added that there is a lack of sensitivity towards senior citizens. "During the COVID-19 pandemic, the senior citizens who are most vulnerable have been asked to stay home. But, is anybody checking how they are fairing alone at homes?" questioned Roland Martins, the Convenor of GOACAN 

The issues of the maintenance of senior citizens who are not looked after by their children, the issues with the infrastructure, which isn’t senior citizen friendly and so many other issues need to be considered for the overall well-being of our elders. 

 For instance, the Seafarers' Welfare Pension Scheme for retired seafarers and their widows has been stopped since October 2019 for almost a year.  The Goan Seamen Association of India (GSAI) brought this predicament to the notice of the Goa Government to restart this scheme as soon as possible which has been ignored to date.

"The retired seafarers and their widows begged the MLAs of their constituency to restart the scheme, which has gone on deaf ears. None of the authorities have shown mercy to our elderly seafarers and their widows, who had to run from pillar to post seeking a ray of hope," said Frank Viegas, GSAI President. The retired seafarers have been forced to protest against the same.