Should there be Homes for the Aged in India?

With the joint family system gradually disintegrating in India, the nuclear set up of families has become the order of the day. The hardest hits due to breaking up of joint family system are the old, aged people. In the West, Old Age Homes have been a common practice. However, in India family bonding has often proved strong enough to take all in the family in its warm fold. But, for quite some years now, Old Age Homes have become a necessity even in India in the changing circumstances. The nuclear families often have no place for the old parents and grand-parents. If, at all, they get to stay with their children, they are treated as unwanted burden. They feel humiliated, rejected and isolated. So, with the provision of alternatives in the form of Old Age Homes in many states, some old people prefer to be in such homes as they provide facilities, freedom, dignity and even company.

Old Age Homes were earlier looked upon as abode for the old men and women who had no one to look after them. But the scenario is changing fast. Today, Old Age Homes are no longer just for the needy but also for the people who want to spend their life amongst the people of their own age. Old Age Homes in India are also changing with times. Today, along with the traditional old homes, we have retirement homes which are societies for the elderly. These Homes are a new way of life that makes sure that the person gets the ambience he or she is looking for. Everything right from health, food, lodging and entertainment is taken care of.

Ideally speaking, there is no substitute for a caring affectionate family which has a long association with parents and grandparents. Children should be taught to retain the family values right from their childhood at home and even at school. Old men and women belong to their children’s homes and they should stay an eternal part of their family. But, just in case, things go sour and suffocating for them or if they don’t get the well-deserved respect, they, at least, have a respectable option in the form of these Old Age Homes.