Incidence of elders being pushed to death have been reported from the southern districts of Tamilnadu more specifically Virudhanagar District. News Paper Expose presented Elders being killed by their own family members under a traditional practice called ‘thalaikoothal’. Under ‘thalaikoothal’, elders would be given an oil bath and made to drink tender coconut water, which would result in their death. There were even cases where quacks were engaged to give lethal injections to old people to end their lives quickly. There were also anecdotes of pesticide tablets used for Coconut Plants being administered. The Virudhanagar district administration has contacted HelpAge India to support them in preventing the practice to the extent possible.
The Project
During discussions with the District Administration as invitee (10) actionable areas were identified as mentioned below:
Agreed Actionable Areas – Virudhanagar District Intervention in Tamilnadu State
Profiling of Elders : 100% Social Health and Economic Profiling of Elders in the district –
formats to be provided by HelpAge Indi.
Establishment of Elders Help Line : 1253 to be started by HelpAge India and maintained at the District Head quarters, set‐up costs to HelpAge India managed 24x7 by Police Department with linking up to the 108
Formation of watchdog committees Village committee, Taluk committee ‐ would act as an
eyes and ears on elder abuse at the Village and the taluk level respectively, trained by HI.
Awareness campaign to sensitize the schools, elected representatives, youth, CBOs and the
civil societies
Development of Communication Material : Video filming – to be telecasted in the local
channels Slogans – elders care will be written in on the walls of the public places
Provision of OAP‐ assured all the eligible elders will be covered on identification through use
of Baseline Software provided by HelpAge India
School value education ‐ Police department would take care of this.
UN World Elders Day- World elders day will be celebrated with the school children‐ rally is planned
Mobile Medicare unit of the health department would provide extra care to the elderly
community.
Establishing geriatric ward at the district hospital
Proposal from District Administration to the Ministry of social Justice and Empowerment will
be prepared and sent for funding
Specific areas identified for HelpAge support are:
1. Enumeration of Elders ‐ Printing of Forms & Orientation and training to ICDS staff‐ Baseline, Software
2. Establishment of Helpline – Set‐up costs ‐ BSNL Deposit and Voice Logger ‐Training to Helpline Staff
3. Community mobilization ‐ Training to the Village, Block and the District level committee
4. Staff Deputation ‐ to assist the district Administration in monitoring progress and support/ guide the Social Justice and Empowerment department at the district.
Coverage: Entire Virudhanagar District – 450 villages in 8 Taluks ‐ approx 1.5 lakh elderly.
Implementation: Managed by the HelpAge India, Coastal Resource Centre, Tamil Nadu, by secondment of a District Age Care Coordinator to facilitate interventions in the realm of Age Care and Social Protection and in tune with the tested and established EfE Model.
