Old age is grim reality. It is the last but crucial stage of life, when a person becomes weak and infirm like a child and is dependent upon others. His physical strength dwindles with the advancement of age, his health deteriorates due to aging of different cells of his body, wrinkles appearing on his face reflect his helplessness and the eyesight is impaired. This is a universal phenomenon and no country is immured from it.

With scientific advancement, the life span of individuals has increased and the mortality rate has shrunken. As a result, the number of aged persons is increasing in every country and India is no exception to it. With the increase of population of aged people, the problem of their well being, safety and health care have also increased. No civilized society can ignore its obligations towards the senior citizens to give them due respect and honor which they deserve as an indispensable part of the society.

In almost all countries of the world including India, senior citizens need due respect, regard and care, irrespective of their social and economic status as they are an integral part of the society. In USA, Japan and Europe, governments are spending nearly 7 percent of their GDP on retirement pension and social security. Non Government agencies are also rendering appreciable services to help elderly people who are otherwise neglected by their families. Some steps have also been taken by the government to give preferential treatment to the Senior Citizens, but emotional link between the old and younger generation is yet to get strengthened for harmonious development in the Society.

It is important to make coming generations realize that old peoples are an asset, and not a burden on the society. Their weak shoulders and trembling hands need moral and social support to spend their ageing period of life with comfort and dignity. It should also be emphasized that old age is not a choice resting with them, it is a natural phenomenon which is universal in nature and the maxim “Old is Gold” is not a myth, but a reality.

It is important to highlight the role of senior citizens as embodiments of cultural heritage and integral part of human society.

Over the years, efforts have been made through enactment of laws and otherwise to create awareness in the society that the aged people should not be neglected. Homes or the aged persons have been established for those who have none to look after them, in some cases, aged persons belonging to affluent families have also been admitted to the old age homes because their children neglected them. In a vast country like ours where the number of aged persons is fast increasing, it is not possible to build as many old age homes as may be the need of the hour, but it would be expedient and proper if aged people are not forced by circumstances to live away from their children and relatives. Their own home should be made a place worth living for them with dignity and honour.

They should not be considered as burden on the family, rather an asset to make them feel proud of their presence in the house. The aged people want to live with their children who have grown up as before their eyes as a result of the suffering their parents faced to make their children reach the glorious stage of adulthood.

The education and well-being of the children was the primary concern of their parents and they did not neglect them. Should we not express our gratitude to our parents for all they had done for their children? Why should the elders be treated as the outcastes in the family and denied their respectful place in the family? These are some of the issues that agitate our minds when we look at the plight of senior citizens.

The youngsters must develop a positive attitude towards them and give due respect to the aged wherever they meet them. A courteous look towards them would bring smile on their wrinkled faces. The loving consideration of their children towards them will sublime their hearts and they in- turn, will be blessed by their elderly look. We want this message to reach every individual, every home and every place that our present generation owes its existence to their elders and elders expect them to pass on this tradition to the coming generations.

The Heritage India is spearheading this campaign to bring solace and comforts in the life of the aged people through better understanding of their problems and needs. We seek co-operation and support from all the likeminded people to realise this task of bringing cheers in the life of aged persons who feel lonely and depressed for want of proper care from their own families or from the society in general. It is for us to choose the way we can help promote this cause, but our support will change the face of the society by making the fag end of life of the aged people as the “Golden Age” of their life.