By Sarah Hannan The Government and the Health Ministry’s sudden decision in placing the country under curfew, with movement from one district to other districts being banned, to prevent Covid-19 from spreading, placed several groups in a vulnerable position. According to the Department of Census and Statistics, Sri Lanka has an elderly population of 3.1 million from ages 70 and above, out of which only 641,515 persons are eligible for the government pension scheme. Meanwhile, owing to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Presidential Task Force made arrangements to pay an allowance of Rs. 5,000 to 559,109 senior citizens hailing from low-income families that were registered with their respective grama niladhari personnel. A majority of these senior citizens opt to live in a more laidback environment and reside in their ancestral homes away from their children. With the current situation in the country, this has placed them in quite a stressful situation. A senior citizen who lives alone in Kandy shared her story with us. “I am used to going to the boutique close by on a daily basis to purchase provisions and when the curfew was announced, I only purchased enough provisions for the initial number of days. The moment they announced that the curfew period was extended, I panicked,” she said. For many like her, placing orders online or switching to using a mobile app to purchase goods are not easy activities; the next thing they do is call their children who are naturally stuck in a different district or live a few kilometres away from them in the closest city. “I called my son and even he got worried as I was all by myself. He said that this virus is very dangerous and that I should not be going out given my age. But what option do I have? He is stuck in Colombo and has no way to come and fetch me. My son then called some of his friends who are living close to me and asked them to help me out in placing orders to buy food,” she added. The first round of goods was arranged to be delivered in that manner and later she got to know that a grocery store she frequented had also started delivering goods. She now uses this method to buy her groceries. She also said that her neighbour from time to time sends her lunch, and was grateful that they thought of her during these times. This is just one of many such stories, but there are also elders who do not have any of their children living in Sri Lanka and some of them, even though they live in close proximity, are unable to reach their parents due to curfew. Several good Samaritans have also volunteered to make the necessary purchases for their neighbours who are elderly and struggle with using technology. “There is an elderly couple next door and they are not used to placing online orders, so I ask them what they need to buy and add them to my provisions order. Even when the vegetable truck comes down the lane, I ask them if they want to buy vegetables. At a time like this, we should help them out in any way we can,” W. Abeydheera said. The Sri Lanka Army too had stepped in to assist in transporting senior citizens to collect their pension payments by taking them to banks using Sri Lanka Transport Board (SLTB) buses. The service was provided to senior citizens who were living in Jaffna, Kilinochchi, Mullaitivu, and several other areas which had limited access to transport facilities. The Sunday Morning spoke to a company which provides an elderly assistance service to help senior citizens during this pandemic. “When several Covid-19 patients were initially reported, with the understanding that senior citizens were a vulnerable group, we offered assistance to the parents of our clients in terms of medicine deliveries, grocery shopping, utility bill payments, and encashing cheques. We are now providing this service to the rest of the public officially since 25 April,” Vigilant Security and Investigation Services Managing Director Mario Perumal said. According to Perumal, with the extended curfew in effect, especially in the Greater Colombo area and suburbs, they received inquiries from their clients as to whether they could provide assistance to the elderly. “We do not have an inventory of goods so when an order is placed, we co-ordinate with a pharmacy and a grocery store to assemble the order. One of our employees goes and picks up the medicine or goods and then delivers them to the clients. We collect the payment upon delivering the goods and charge a small fee for delivery,” Perumal explained. In addition to this, their company had also arranged for food or provisions to be delivered from the client’s house to the client’s parents’ house during the curfew. The service is available in Colombo 1-15, Battaramulla, Rajagiriya, Kotte, Nugegoda, and Ratmalana. To obtain this service, one could contact them on 0716 327 327. --- The Sunday Morning contacted State Minister of Social Security Tharaka Balasuriya for a comment on the measures the Ministry of Social Services has taken to ensure the wellbeing of elders during this pandemic. He responded that since the Parliament is dissolved, the Ministry is not allocated any more funds to initiate such programmes. Balasuriya asked us to contact National Secretariat for Elders Director S.D. Udawatta for further information. However, all attempts to contact Udawatta proved futile. photos ishan Wanniarachchi