Senior citizens in movement: Get-togethers of Kerala’s elderly

By Rosamma Thomas*
By 2036, over 22 per cent of the population of Kerala would be senior citizens, according to the India Ageing Report of 2023 from the UN Fund for Population Activities; this is significantly higher than the national average of 15% of population over the age of 60.
As Kerala ages, the state government has initiated programmes that cover this section of the people, starting mobile clinics, for instance, that access those who find it hard to arrive at the hospital.
There are also senior citizens who have begun organizing themselves, reaching out to members in need and planning programmes together.
The National Senior Citizens Movement (NSCM) started functioning in Thiruvananthapuram in 2005. It has 382 members at present, and the sole criterion for membership is that one should be over 60 years old. It was initiated by a retired government servant, KPP Unnithan, at a time when his own neighbourhood in the state capital, Jyoti Nagar in Pattom, had several residents who had retired.
The group collects voluntary donations from members, and a report of activities and accounts is presented at an annual meeting. Plans for future events are laid out.
The annual meeting of 2025 was held on Saturday, March 1. Members from the Federation of Senior Citizens of Kerala were also present. The members honoured RS Sreekumar, president of the Venganoor panchayat, with the award instituted in memory of KPP Unnithan, founder of NSCM. This is the first time this award was given, and leaders who take up the cause of senior citizens will be honoured with it each year.
Besides visiting homes of members who might be ailing or otherwise in need of support, the members also plan annual trips – the last one was to Thottilpalam in Kozhikode district, and about 30 members attended, ranging from 60 to 80 years old. EH Jones, who serves as the secretary of the NSCM, said that the trips are held only once a year, and since some of the younger senior citizens are quite fit, they lend a hand to the older and frailer.

---

*Freelance journalist

Incarceration of Prof Saibaba 'revives' the question: What is crime, who is criminal?

By Kunal Pant* In 2016, a Supreme Court Judge asked the state of Maharashtra, “Do you want to extract a pound of flesh?” The statement was directed against the state for contesting the bail plea of Delhi University Professor GN Saibaba. Saibaba was arrested in 2014, a justification for which was to prevent him from committing what the police called “anti-national activities.”

If Maoist violence is illegitimate, how is Hindutva, state violence justified? Can right-wing wash off its sins?

By Swami Agnivesh* and Sandeep Pandey** There was major police action against Sudha Bhardwaj, Gautam Navlakha, Varvara Rao, Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Ferreira on 28 August, 2018. Before this police arrested Professor Shoma Sen, Adocate Sudhir Gadling, Sudhir Dhawle, Mahesh Raut and Rona Wilson on 6 June. Even before this Dr. Binayak Sen, Soni Sori, Ajay TG, Professor GN Saibaba and Prashant Rahi have been arrested and all these activists have been accused of having links with Maoists.

The soundtrack of resistance: How 'Sada Sada Ya Nabi' is fueling the Iran war

By Syed Ali Mujtaba* The Persian track “ Sada Sada Ya Nabi ye ” by Hossein Sotoodeh has taken the world by storm. This viral media has cut across linguistic barriers to achieve cult status, reaching over 10 million views. The electrifying music and passionate rendition by the Iranian singer have resonated across the globe, particularly as the high-intensity military conflict involving Iran entered its second month in March 2026.

Counterview

Search This Blog