50% of elderly in Kalyana-Karnataka region do not receive old-age pension

Social, family support is adequate among elderly people in Kalyana-Karnataka region, study reveals

A study has found that 55.5 per cent of elderly people are not receiving old-age pension in Kalyana-Karnataka region which includes Kalaburagi, Bidar, Yadgir, Raichur, Koppal, and Ballari (undivided) districts.

Assistant Professor Lakshman G, who is working in the Social Work Department at Central University of Karnataka conducted a study aiming to assess and compare mental health, wellbeing, quality of life and social support among the elderly in rural and urban areas. He selected 861 samples for the study and of them, 422 (49 per cent) samples were from rural areas and 439 (51 per cent) from urban areas in the six districts of the region. The study revealed that 55.5 per cent of elderly people are not getting the pension.

"There is a need to ensure that eligible elderly get the pension. Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs), government agencies and other civil society organisations must work towards getting old-age pension to the elderly," the study suggested.

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Given the post-retirement pension, only 11.5 per cent are eligible to receive the same, wherein 2 per cent of them are even deprived of this entitlement. For the majority of elderly people, the primary caregiver is the son. The study reports that most of the respondents (67.8 per cent) are still living with their spouses which is a positive sign for their longevity. Interestingly, the distribution of land ownership is majorly parted between owning land (54 per cent) and being landless (37 per cent) and 10 per cent had handed over the land to inheritors.

Mental health status

About 10 per cent of elders had clinically significant anxiety symptoms and 21 per cent had depressive symptoms. Only a few elders had problems in the behavior control and psychological wellbeing domain. Overall mental health shows that only 1 per cent had poor mental health, the majority (59 per cent) had moderate mental health and 40 per cent had good health. The general well-being of the respondents shows nearly two-third had good well-being and 16 per cent reported poor well-being and the well-being clearly indicates that 16 per cent required some kind of psycho-social help, the study revealed.

Quality of life

Quality of life indicates that one-fifth perceived their overall quality of life and health are either poor or very good. This shows that the majority of elderly people perceive their quality of life and health as good. This is a good sign. A fascinating fact concerning the quality of life is that only a small percentage of the elderly reported low quality of life in different areas, such as physical, psychological, social relationships, environmental, and overall quality of life, the study noted.

The study demonstrated that social support is adequate among elderly in Kalyana-Karnataka region. The families support the elderly. The comparison between rural and urban elderly shows that the urban elders had good social relationships and well-being. Urban elderly people had more friends than their counterparts in rural areas.