Social development and family
As stated earlier, family is the basic social unit which gives rise to the society and ultimately to the State. Families constitute the societies which, in turn, constitute the State. In other words, families are the roots on which stand the edifice of the State. Stronger the root, stronger is the edifice. Weaker the root, weaker is the edifice. From this analogy, it can be deduced, without any fear of contradiction, that disciplined families lead to the emergence of disciplined societies and ultimately to the disciplined States.

The question of social development naturally comes to the forefront when such is the situation. But it is to be recognised that the concept of social development is a comprehensive as well as a complex one. It attempts to view human beings as central to the scheme of things. It is the sum total of all political, economic, spiritual and cultural achievements of a society. Breakdown of family as an institution and its norms, values, ethics and morality in the wake of materialism, modernisation and change of value system are the problems which if not resolved soon, threaten not only to disintegrate nations and societies but also endanger humanity and life support system.

Disintegration of family, if at all, will give birth to social disharmony, disruption and disintegration of society through erosion and destruction of social values. Concerns for social disintegration are more pronounced even in developed countries where the slogan "back to basic" is gaining ground in recent years. The socio-economic system that evolved both in the East and the West was woven around families as basic social units. There is the global realisation now-a-days that the families should look after everybody including the elderly, in good or bad times, based on the philosophy of "caring and sharing". Here the terms "caring and sharing" are very important in the sense that the younger members of the families will take good care of the elderly members and share their experiences in different spheres of life.

In other words, the elderly persons can act as advisers for bringing about social development in areas where families are located and even beyond in greater social milieu. Younger members of the families can reap good harvest of their presence in the family simply by taking good care of their needs and showing proper respect to them. It is to be recognised that these elderly persons, while young, made significant contribution for the betterment of the lot of the families and as such they deserve sympathetic as well as respectful treatment from the younger generation at their old age.

Today's young men and women are tomorrow's elderly persons and the cycle will move on in this fashion till eternity. There is an adage that "if you do not show respect to your seniors, your juniors will also not show respect to you." If the present-day youngers do not take good care of the elderly persons in the families, they themselves may be subjected to neglect and apathy when they grow old.

Response of international community
Response of the international community and GOB to the needs and welfare of the elderly persons has been very positive. The official observance of the International Day of families on 15th May as proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly coincided with the international year of older persons, 1999, and provided the opportunities to highlight the role of older persons and the inter-generation dimensions of families in the context of demographic ageing. ESCAP also proclaimed 1993-2002 as the Asia-Pacific Decade of disabled which also included measures for elderly people.

The international day of families is observed in Bangladesh as also elsewhere in the world on 15th May every year. The observance of the day provides an opportunity to promote appropriate actions for the welfare of every member of the family including the elderly. On this day, families are required to demonstrate their solidarity in the quest for better standards of life for its members with particular emphasis on the older persons. With this objective in view international Father's and Mother's Days are also observed both in the western and eastern world.

Now-a-days, the western world favours the idea of keeping the elderly persons in the family instead of in the Old Age Home for the mutual benefit of both sides -- the younger generation to show proper respect to the elderly and take their advice for nice placements in their lives and the elderly persons to bestow affection on the younger generation and guide them towards the path of settlement in life. Programme of action adopted by the World Summit for Social Development held in Copenhagen Denmark, in March, 1995 called for the strengthening of family support systems as one way to protect older persons and promote their independence.

Situation in Bangladesh
We, in Bangladesh, at one stage, thought of segregating the elderly people from the families and keeping them away in a new place called "Shanti Nibash" or peaceful abode. With this idea, the government even established six such homes in the six divisions of the country. Later on, good sense prevailed upon the government which then laid more emphasis on the family integration of the old and converted the "Shanti Nibash" into the Safe Homes where women and child convicts are lodged for reformatory purposes.

It is to be noted that the elderly population has been growing fast in Bangladesh. It is one of the twenty developing countries with largest number of elderly population. The present size of the elderly population in Bangladesh is around nine million and according to population projection, this number will grow throughout the present century. According to the statistical pocket book, 2003 as revised up to January, 2005, life expectancy at birth for both sex stood at 64.9 in 2002. It is expected to rise with the passage of time mainly because of improvement in medical science. This is why it is high time that the government, private agencies as well as the individuals themselves become aware of and make effective preparations to deal with this new phenomenon.

There is an association of elderly persons in the country known as Forum For the Rights of the Elderly, Bangladesh (FRE,B). The objective of the Forum is to establish the rights of the elderly people (i) so as to enable them to live in dignity and remain so, to the extent possible, with the physical and mental fitness and in a situation free from worries and anxieties, (ii) to secure a place for them in the national development activities, within the framework of national socioeconomic development plan, by harnessing their rich experiences and (iii) enable them to secure basic necessities of life.

But sheer formulation of the objectives will not result in their achievement unless backed up by proper strategies and planned activities. FRE,B, no doubt, has certain strategies and planned activities. Notable among them are:-

(i) To take cognisance of human rights, including those of the elderly, as enshrined in the Constitution of Bangladesh, in the Principles and Plan of

Action adopted by the UN in the first World Assembly on ageing in Vienna in 1982 and in those adopted by the second UN World Assembly on ageing issue in April 2002 in Madrid, Spain.

(ii) To stimulate and strengthen the government initiatives to ensure the welfare of the elderly.

(iii) To conduct training programme for the community and religious leaders as well as the primary health workers on ageing issues and elderly problems.

(iv) To develop special home health care providers (Home Health Assistants) particularly for the rural area to provide services to the physically handicapped and/or lonely aged persons.

(v) To hold rally, seminar/workshop and other awareness raising activities including observance of International Day for the Elderly.

(vi) To assist formulation of National Policy for the Aged, and its adoption and implementation by the government.

(vii) To recognise elderly people as senior citizens of the country with necessary benefits and concessions for them.

Ageing in Bangladesh is less focused, less documented and less researched. Basic needs of the elderly are seldom met. It is a sad commentary that the elderly people both in the rural and urban areas are not at all knowledgeable about the nutritional value of the food they consume. The majority of the rural elderly live in absolute poverty, and they suffer from the cumulative effects of lifetime deprivation, entering old age in poor state of health and also without savings of material assets. They are left out of the development process and lack means to fulfil their basic needs such as food, clothing, housing and health care. They also lack access to resources and income generating opportunities.

Elderly people in Bangladesh are excluded from micro-credit programme run by NGOs due to age barrier distribution criteria. Incidence of widowhood is much higher in females (60+) than among males of same age group because of customary practice to get women married to men older by several years. They become lonely after the death of their husbands and the consequent collapse of social support system. Law of inheritance is not in favour of the women. There is no geriatric hospital worth its name. Due to inadequate medical facilities, many of the health problems of the elderly remain uncared for. The role of mass media in sensitising the civil society, government policy makers, NGOs and others regarding the productive role of the elderly is far from satisfactory.

The Government, though belated, introduced for the first time, in 1998, an allowance for elderly poor people known as "Boyaska Bhata" to mitigate financial insecurity of the elderly. However, "better late than never". Since 1998, steady increase of amount of allowanced and number of recipients indicate the national consensus and commitment for cash support to the elderly poor people. The amount of allowance per elderly person per month has been increased from Taka 100/- during 1998, to Taka 165 during 2004-05 and to Taka 180 during 2005-06 and will further be increased to Taka 200 during 2006-07 as is evident from a news item appeared in the Daily Sangbad dated 9th August, 05.

Presently only 15 lakh poor elderly people are enjoying the benefit of this allowance. Regulation of Boyaska Bhata stipulates that a person must attain the age of 65 to be eligible to receive this allowance. According to the census of 2001, the number of people aged 65 and above in this country, is 80 lakh 49 thousand and 680. It means that 65 lakh 49 thousand and 680 poor elderly people still remain outside the purview of this scheme.

The Boyaska Bhata scheme is implemented by the Ministry of Social Welfare through the Directorate of Social Services (DSS), Upazila Social Welfare Office and Union Council. The UP Chairman and Members are involved in the primary selection of the recipients and the list is finalised at the Upazila Social Welfare Office. The recipients are female and male elderly people from each ward in rural areas. The allowance is disbursed quarterly through approved banks. There has been complaints of manipulation, favouritism and even politicisation in the selection process. Mostly illiterate as the rural poor people are, the local touts also play foul game at the disbursement of money. Previously, attempts are made to put their evil practice to rest but without any success. Local party cadres and musclemen are involved in the process. I am afraid, this malady in the selection and distribution process cannot be resolved without the intervention of central political high command.

Conclusion
It is to be remembered that again of an individual is a complex phenomenon and as such it is associated with the biological, social, psychological, behavioral and above all economic changes of human beings. People, in the elderly ages, thus, develop multi-dimensional vulnerability of which the economic one dominates most and intimately leads to their poverty. Hence, well-being of the elderly population has special significance for Bangladesh particularly for achieving its Millennium Development Goals (MDG).

Dissemination of the knowledge of the economic, cultural, social and demographic process affecting families, initiation of family-oriented projects, introduction of family legislation, holding of seminars/workshop on family policies and organisation of cultural festivals can be the major events of the Elderly Day. But, I am afraid, the cherished objectives cannot be achieved if these activities remain confined to a day only. These activities should be carried on throughout the year at the family, societal and state level in whatever scale possible. These, I am sure, will then usher in awareness among the community, government leaders, politicians, the lawmakers and the members of the families about the paramount need to make the families the cohesive force for the survival and maintenance of a well-knit disciplined society where both the younger and older generation can make their humble contribution towards its socio-economic development.

Md. Nurul Abedin is a former Secretary to the government.