I am currently in Australia visiting two of my children who have settled here. One of my children is in Nepal to take care of me when I am there. It makes me feel lucky. But many Nepali octogenarians whose children have settled in foreign countries have not been that lucky. In fact, most of them are not only suffering from the pang of separation from their kids but also from debilitation associated with age when they require physical care. This is because their children are abroad and cannot come home on a short notice. This is compounded by the lack of medical, financial and physical support.

New places, problems

Above 90 percent of the Non-Resident Nepalis (NRN) belong to the middle-class in Nepal. The children of such families, living abroad, can provide enough money to afford a reasonable living for their parents in Nepal. So the basic problem is not economic. It is systemic. Parents visiting their children abroad are unfamilar with the environment there. They feel ill at ease when their sons and daughter-in-laws leave for work early in the morning and come back late in the evening. They cannot get along in the neighbourhood of diverse ethnic groups speaking different languages. To make matters worse, they cannot move around to meet Nepalis in non-walkable locations either. And their visas are short. So for many such reasons, they have to return home. But problems do not end there. The children also they have their own share of problems. They have jobs that they have to retain by all means. Their own children need their attention and care all the time. Their leave is limited and cannot be used at will. So they cannot find the time to fly home to take care of their parents when needed. Most children cannot even go back home to Nepal to mourn their deceased parent. These are some of their problems that I have observed in my four visits here.

While I was pondering on this issue I heard the good news that the President of the NRN has allocated a sum of Rs 1 billion for social sector services. So, what I am proposing hereunder may be a good field for the investment as part of the NRN money allocated in this sector.   

For parents’ sake

Over five million Nepali people are already abroad and the outmigration is not going to stop anytime soon as leaders are yet to even start the process of economic development by resolving the current political crisis. This will increase the predicament of the old generation in Nepal. It is sad that the government cannot do much to ameliorate the condition of the old people. While there are a few Briddhashrams, their scope is extremely limited. The private sector has not done much in this direction. This is where I want to draw the attention of the NRN.

The NRN has already helped build many residential facilities for mourners, hospitals and schools and the like. And I see a direct link between the ongoing interest of the NRN to invest in social sector and the need of the elderly people because most such old people have been left behind by the NRN themselves. But the need is not theirs alone. Many old parents have been deserted by their children in Nepal too. This is a growing problem. So I see an opportunity for the NRN to invest in the care of the elderly.

Caring for the old

An Old Age Care Institution (OACI) can be created with financial assistance from the NRN. The proposed OACI should have two basic objectives. The first objective should be to produce human resources who can take care of the elderly people. The second objective should be to cater to the needs of the elderly people on a sustainable basis.

The operational modality of the OACI should be programme specific based on assessment of demands and needs. The need assessment should be done in collaboration between the government. The needs may vary from physical support to running an errand. After analysing the needs of the elderly an appropriate course of action should be developed to develop the required skills. Selection of the cadre should be made by scrutinising the aptitude of the applicants.

As of now the only comparable service providers are nurses which has a medical focus and they are predominantly female. There can be two types of services. The first should be institutional in which the elderly without physical support at home would be kept in the OACI dormitory. This can also function as a practical laboratory to teach skills to serve the elderly. The second type should cater to the elderly at their homes by sending in service providers on part time or whole time basis. An appropriate fee should be charged from the recepients of such service.

Link and jobs

Such an institution can be run initially by a small core staff with the physical infrastructure kept at the minimum. But it may have to be expanded in course of time. The NRN organisation should bear the initial cost of the infrastructure, but the running cost can be met by the payments made by the family of the elderly.

The OACI can be a link between the NRN children and their aged parents at home. The service providers can be like surrogate children, if you please. They can fill the socio-emotional gap that the elderly are facing by their separation from their children living abroad. In this case, the monetary support they get from their children will get a human touch through the new faces of service providers. The service provider can also be employed at home instead of having to leave  abroad for work.

Such an organisation may not by itself meet the entire need of the country that is likely to increase by the year, but the government and the private sector could expand the effort to a macro level. The government currently has a provision of paying Rs 500 per month to the elderly in their seventies and a group of elders have been  demanding that the state raise this toRs 3000 and give  medical and travel discounts to the old as well. But, even such a modest increase will be insufficient in the face of the steadily growing inflation.  

Lastly, the institution I propose should not be conceived as a charity organisation. It should be a service providing enterprise that charges for its services. The cost of the services should be determined by the quality and length of the services provided. Certain poor parents may get help from the government or philanthropic organisations, but the OACI should remain a non-profit professional organisation earning the operational budget through its service on a sustainable basis. Any surplus there can be reinjected into the institution for its future growth.

Sharma is a freelance political analyst ([email protected])