The West Java provincial government pays special attention to the social issue of single elderly people, or those who live by themselves without family assistance, as the province has the highest population of this demographic compared to other Indonesian regions.

“I, as the Head of Poverty Mitigation Coordination Team in West Java, have already known about this,” West Java’s Deputy Governor Uu Ruzhanul Ulum said during the 2022 National Elderly Day event in Tasikmalaya, West Java, on Sunday.

He told ANTARA that the issue of single elderly people is related to low education level of local residents.

“The Human Development Index (IPM) in Tasikmalaya is below average. Not just material aid, but education assistance should also be bolstered because there is a link between poverty and education,” he explained.

He encouraged private companies to provide social aid to improve the level of education in Tasikmalaya.

According to Ulum, mutual assistance with every element of society is very helpful in dealing with the limitation of regional budget in West Java.

“There is a limit to regional budget. Businessmen also provide CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) aid through programs for the community in order to spread kindness to the public,” he noted.

While delivering her 2022 National Elderly Day speech in Tasikmalaya, Minister of Social Affairs Tri Rismaharini stated that Tasikmalaya has the highest population of single elderly people in Indonesia.

According to the report from the Social Affairs Ministry, the number of single elderly people in Tasikmalaya reaches 28 thousand which are spread across 39 sub-districts. In general, they are abandoned by their families.

It is for this reason that she selected Tasikmalaya as the location for the commemoration of National Elderly Day.

The ministry has carried out various programs to help single elderly people such as by organizing a free cataract surgery program.

Source: Antara News