Plight of pensioners and senior citizens in Bangladesh

Life is tough for pensioners and senior citizens in Bangladesh. The woes of pensioners, especially if they do not belong to the privileged classes, know no limits in this country. Against the backdrop of a very fraught and tense global economy, affected by the pandemic and the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, people are suffering badly. According to the SANEM research, food inflation was more than 11 per cent in January, and people spent more than 60 per cent of their earnings for food items.

The pandemic and food inflation have affected all society segments, and people with limited income have been hit particularly hard. Pensioners, many believe, have been the worst hit by the skyrocketing price hikes of daily essentials.

Pensioners are struggling to buy commodities as the price hikes of essentials have made a big dent in their savings. It has also put a strain on their relationship with their near and dear ones as visiting places too involves money.

Many pensioners are suffering from chronic ailments. Treatment costs have spiraled and eaten into their savings. Pensioners are finding it difficult to uphold their social status, relationship with neighbours, and lack of quality food as the consequences of commodity price hikes and local currency devaluation.

Media reports say that the prices of commodities have spiraled out of control. The soybean oil price has crossed the Tk200 mark. Prices of staple foods - rice and atta – have also increased. A kilogram of beef is now being sold at Tk700 while the mutton price is Tk950 or higher. Pensioners are under tremendous stress due to the permeating inflation, and the pensions have not seen a concurrent rise.

The very process of getting one’s pension regularly is fraught with difficulties. Going from one office to another and getting duplicate copies of decades-old records is an uphill struggle for young people, including retirees in their sixties and seventies.

The much-vaunted Universal Pension Scheme is indeed a step in the right direction. However, in the just placed national budget for FY23 there are no details on implementing the Universal Pension Scheme. And if the process of getting pension is full of difficulties, the scheme will not yield the desired result.

The old social structures are crumbling, with the senior citizens denied the respect and family safety they once enjoyed. A steady rise in materialistic values has taken away the genuine reverence that our society once had for the elderly. Unfortunately, for all our talk about ‘respecting age,’ many Bangladeshis today regard wrinkles and grey hair with a measure of horror. When we talk of our demographic advantage, it is always about the youth. When we speak of our demographic challenge, it is inevitably about ageing. Who will bear the cost of longevity? Do we have the institutional structures in place? What is the burden of caring for the elderly?

The youth, in general, are losing the age-old custom of respect and are also becoming less concerned about the older persons, even their parents, and close relatives. Prevalence of nuclear families, lack of cross-generation interaction, less social interaction with older persons, age discrimination, and lack of adequate social security system in Bangladesh can be cited as the most important reasons for the miserable condition of many older persons.

The monthly allowance for the country’s senior citizens (boyoshko bhata) is the princely sum of Taka 500. The Tk 500 for a person per month is indeed a pittance. In these days of high prices of essential commodities, what can this little amount purchase for a person? Isn’t it a mockery? A person needs food, clothing, shelter and medical care. Can the allowance meet even a small fraction of the needs? Then why it is for?” Well, nobody seems to have an answer to these questions. Many senior citizens find it extremely difficult to get hold of even this meagre amount.

To make matters worse, allegedly those entitled to this ‘boyoshko bhata” have to grease the palms of the officials concerned. And reports indicate that instead of getting the allowance every month, they get it every three to four months.

The elderly population is a fast-growing segment of Bangladesh society nowadays. Every year, approximately 80,000 new older persons enter the group of the older persons who, in general, constitute a socially and economically vulnerable group with the basic needs remaining unmet in many cases. By 2050, it is estimated that the number of people over 60 will be approximately equal to the number of children under 14. The number of people over 75 is increasing faster than any other group. The constitution declares in article 15(D) that the government should introduce social security programmes for the insolvent elderly population. However, the only visible support to the older persons is the earlier mentioned ‘old age allowance’ (Boyosko Bhata) of Taka 500.

In Bangladesh, the elderly have to visit different government offices for various purposes. The norm here is to have senior citizens visit these offices in person regardless of their health or physical condition. No senior citizen counters exist at these offices, or if they do they are non-operational.

This is a far cry from the values taught in schools: respect, help, and facilitate senior citizens. Officials should be trained to be patient while dealing with senior citizens. Their attitude shows that either standard operating procedures don’t state how to deal with senior citizens or, if they do, they are not taught, followed and monitored in practical life.

Family members who have to shoulder the responsibility of care-giving should educate themselves about an elderly person’s specific needs including psycho-sociological, dietary, physical, mental and emotional requirements. Awareness about a condition and its related issues can help them understand the patient’s behaviour, such as aggression, and seeking professional counselling on how to deal with these issues can make care-giving easier.

It is a shocking fact that many elderly parents being abused and abandoned by their children, and it is not just an urban phenomenon. In rural Bangladesh, too extended family system is eroding. The younger generation is increasingly heading off to cities with their spouses and children to start a new life – without their parents or grandparents.

And then there are the financial issues. Those who have worked in government service or for reputable private companies receive pensions, but a large majority of the population still work as farmers or day labourers. Once they are too old to work, they are forced to rely on their children or extended family for support which is often not forthcoming. It is a fact of life that everyone wants to live long, but no one wants to grow old.

Perceiving old age with fear is actually a rather recent phenomenon. Old age is now viewed as an unavoidable, undesirable, problem-ridden phase of life. A phase that we all are compelled to live—biding time until our life exits from life itself.

The pensioners and senior citizens need practical measures to alleviate their grievances and not mere promises and sermons giving false hope to them.

The writer is a journalist. He can be contacted at smmsagar48@gmail.com