UN Secretary- General,
Opening Second World Assembly on Ageing in Madrid, Urges Plan of Action to
build a Society for all ages...
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Argentina today is ready to re-found a modern State
that is flexible and works to the common good of all and the fulfilment of
basic necessities. A process, called the Argentina Dialogue, has been
started to search for consensus in which actors such as the Catholic
Church and civil society actively participate. A modern State has to be
transparent and has to take civil society into account. Organizations of
elderly people are growing more numerous and the level of social
participation has been growing.
The participation of older persons in society is
essential to attain a better life for them and for society as a whole.
This involves ensuring that population issues are on the social agenda. It
means strengthening older persons and their organizations to increase
their capacity to act on their own issues. The challenge is to promote the
empowerment of older persons.
SATYANARAYAN JTIYA, Minister for Social Justice and
Empowerment of India: My Government is committed to providing an effective
environment to secure the goals of economic and emotional security for the
elderly. In Indian tradition, society accords the highest respect and
prestige to an individual in the last of four stages of life. This is why
the concept of an old-age home is alien in India. However, globalization
is causing a silent transformation within social structures. Fragmentation
of the traditional family network is leading to an erosion of the
available support within the immediate and extended family. The migration
of younger generations results in elderly persons being left to fend for
themselves.
The Government of India adopted the |nation's Policy
for Older Persons in 1999. The policy enjoins the State and civil society
to extend support for financial security, health care, shelter and other
needs of older persons, provide protection against abuse and exploitation
and empower them. The Government already covers around 32 million workers
and their families under schemes for provident funds and health and
insurance facilities. However, there is a need to reach out to many more
who do not have access to such schemes and would be rendered vulnerable on
attaining old age.
The Government of India is also committed to the
empowerment of older persons. Ageing is an ongoing process and the
changing social order is not always conducive to the well-being of the
older persons. The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment coordinates
and provides the basic road map for policies on the aged. Special
privileges like old age-pensions, tax concessions and various amenities in
transportation and health services, among other things, are some of the
encouraging developments in our country. Every country will have to evolve
its own strategy in meeting the challenges and harnessing the advantages
of a growing resource pool of elderly citizens in line with their cultural
and traditional values, as well as national perspectives. Elderly people
in their productive spans of life have made significant contributions to
the development and prosperity of the world. We, in India, will certainly
do everything possible to honour them.
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