Close to 18 million elderly in India are homeless. Senior citizens living in poverty face abandonment by their own families as they cannot earn an income. Many a times, they are left with no choice but to beg to survive. Many elderly are left alone after their children move to the cities in search of better livelihood. In the last few days of their lives, who will they look up to? Support an old age home to make sure that in their old age, these senior citizens are taken care of, About 15 percent of the people in India are undernourished and 194 million people are hungry. This means a quarter of the undernourished people in the world belong to India.
Also, India’s population is one of the fastest-growing populations in the world; it will one day become the most populous country.
State of Hunger in India
According to FAO estimates in ‘The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World, 2020 report, 189.2 million people are undernourished in India. By this measure 14% of the population is undernourished in India. Also, 51.4% of women in reproductive age between 15 to 49 years are anaemic. Further according to the report 34.7% of the children aged under five in India are stunted (too short for their age), while 20% suffer from wasting, meaning their weight is too low for their height. Malnourished children have a higher risk of death from common childhood illnesses such as diarrhea, pneumonia, and malaria. The Global Hunger Index 2020 ranks India at 101 out of 116 countries on the basis of three leading indicators — prevalence of wasting and stunting in children under 5 years, under 5 child mortality rate, and the proportion of undernourished in the population.
VISHWAKENDRA FOUNDATION aim is to provide peace to these Old Age People in their last days. Apart from basic facilities including food and a separate bed, organization also has an active medical staff to take care of the elderly.
