Is the Senior Living sector dominated by Real Estate developers who have no clue about Eldercare? Is the big boys club not letting the national standards develop nor letting them get developed, simply because it will not suit their business model?
Imagine if a real estate company has to follow national standards which will hurt their own bottom line and are supposed to be on the national platform for developing the national standards? But then, this is India. In India we typically hire those companies who have no Idea about the business but are willing to accommodate the requests of the people in power.
Is that not a conflict of interest? Unfortunately that's the reality of our country; our policy makers invite only those companies and people to formulate policies and guidelines for the country which only help a few private sector players, not for the country as such or for the larger cause. The people who want to genuinely help the country are always sidelined, because how else will the money printing press work?
Eldercare is not a cash cow especially in the rural areas, this has to be developed with a true heart and a genuine concern, but then, as they say money or no honey.
The new found love by the so-called founders of the Eldercare companies may look like the shining stars of today, but then, are they truly concerned about old age care? I am sure if their last 2 years ITR, their family relations and new houses purchased are looked into, it will show the true picture, but then, senior citizens are the new cash crop which every tom or harry is trying to capitalize upon.
Private equity fund and venture capital are happy to fund the so called companies who have learnt the tricks of the trade to milk the senior citizens, but then at what cost?
Most of the private sector Care Homes & Home Care companies in India are operational without proper approval, it is just a matter of time that the big companies and the investors realize the complications & try to bail themselves out, otherwise most of the founders will be behind bars because of non-compliance.
For a country to grow in terms of Elderly Care, the stakeholders need to learn & understand the subject, which unfortunately is not the case today. Anyone who has an uncle or aunty in the government, gets on to the national level decision making board without even understanding what old age is all about.
As a nation if we do not wake up to the needs of the industry and what is being offered to us in the name of Old Age Care, then either we deserve to be treated like dustbin or we start questioning the service providers about the qualifications and the standards which they follow.
If a family is spending 30k for Home Care and 150k for a Care Home, I think we deserve to know what standards are being followed by the organization, otherwise we might as well have our parents live in a charitable old age home.
Pankaj Mehrotra
