Has living in a retirement community become a curse?
An article by Ms.Gita Ravi – A Resident of Covai S3 Senior Care Centre
We live in a retirement community headed by Col Sridharan and living here was our pride till GST was introduced. Now we are at a standstill on how we will maintain the minimum lifestyle we got used to over the years. Has living in a retirement community become a curse? Will we be able to manage our finances much better if we stayed outside the community? These are the points we ponder about these days.
People like us who worked in the Middle East and came back to India more than ten years ago thinking that the bank interest would be enough to sustain us the remaining years of our life are in for shocks aftershocks as the bank interest declines year after year while the prices of essential commodities shoot up day after day. We receive no pension and it is difficult for people like us to find employment here where lots of compromises are needed and day to day life is already a hassle having got used to bare minimum facilities like clean environment, clean drinking water and uninterrupted power supply. Even these things come under the “luxury quota” here in India. We can minimise our wants and needs as we grow older but emergencies like illness and hospitalisations will attack us from time to time which makes a huge dent in our savings which in turn makes us difficult to cope. Where pensioners get an increment every year and all the others govt sectors are taken care of, what happens to people like us who brought money back and boosted the Indian economy in our younger days. Now as we age, don’t we, who are forced to live only on interests, deserve some sympathy at least in the form of reductions in GST or a decent interest from our deposits which does not fluctuate year after year? There was a time where banks were after us to open NRI accounts each promising better interest than the other. We were needed then, now have we become curry leaves as India boasts of better economy? Living in a retirement home is made to feel like a crime wherein, it’s a boon for people who do not have anybody to depend upon.
Col Sridharan who heads CovaiCare Retirement home for Senior Citizens in on a mission to speak to the higher authorities on what can be done to ease this situation. He has submitted papers to the government authorities explaining our plight. The irony of the situation is that as he stays outside the community he pays lesser GST which he himself cannot digest as he comes under a different bracket. Already hard pressed for time he gives his heart and soul to the problems the seniors face, forgetting he is a senior himself and needs the same amount of empathy he gives to others.
We really hope his efforts will bear fruits and better days are ahead.
We are really blessed to have somebody like Col Sridharan at the helm of affairs here. A true believer in fighting for causes which affects Senior Citizens.