BENGALURU: Narayana Rao (80) is facing a bitter struggle each day to have a roof above his head and to sustain himself. With the ‘International Day for Older Persons’ observed globally on October 1, his agonising experience showcases the plight of senior citizens despite many regulations in place for their welfare.
Despite being frequently ordered out of the small house in Kanakanagar in Marenahalli village, which he bought in 1999, by his daughter-in-law, the widow of his older son, and beaten frequently by his two adult grandsons, Rao continues to cling on to the place as wants to spend his final days in his own property. He is not even offered food in the house and relies on eateries.The pension of `500 provided by the state for senior citizens has not reached his doorsteps for the past one year. Apart from his meagre savings which is depleting daily, it is charity from a few acquaintances that helps him manage his daily sustenance.
RTI activist Kalidas Reddy has been appealing to numerous government agencies to come to the rescue of this octogenarian.
Reddy’s complaint with the Karnataka State Human Rights Commission (KSHRC) in November 2015 which was directed to the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Tribunal resulted in a verdict in favour of Rao on June 6, 2017. “The Tribunal directed his younger son Thilakesh Rao, who owns five houses in a building, to allot one house for the sake of the father. Though it is mandatory for the order to be implemented within 30 days, the Tahsildar, Bengaluru North, has not ensured its execution,” the activist insists. The son has political connections which ensures his non-compliance with any directive, Reddy charges. The court has also ordered the son to produce the documents of the property in his possession so that it can look into restoring it back to the father.
Thilakesh had beaten his father with an iron rod which resulted in loss of teeth and bodily injuries in January 2015, the application of the activist to the KSHRC states. “The daughter-in-law has used forged documents to claim the property in her name and has ensured BESCOM, BWSSB and BBMP (property tax) bills come in her name.”
The senior citizen told Express, “It is my house allotted to me by the Slum Development Board. I have not willed it to any one. The original sale deed documents are with my son Thilakesh who refuses to hand it over.”
His only daughter N Kalavathy, herself in an improverished condition, says, “My mother died in 1999 and he really has no one to care for him. It is daily torture for my father presently. But he insists he will not go to any one’s house and be a burden.