The government needs to mobilize powers to look after old parents living alone, says an article in guancha.gmw.cn.

Excerpts:

A son working in Shanghai, a two-hour drive from his home, discovered his both parents had died in Jiaxing, Zhejiang province, only when he visited. He had not called them for three weeks. His father is suspected to have died from an electric shock while his mother, an Alzheimer’s disease suffered, died of dehydration and hunger.

Many children work and live far from their parents. Most left-behind senior citizens take care of themselves but many have to make ends meet on meager pensions. They cannot afford to hire nurses to care for them and medical bills are also a heavy burden. The situation in the countryside is even worse. Most old farmers only get about $10 a month as a basic pension.

The government should take action to mobilize social organizations, communities, volunteers, charity groups and private investors to take care of these “empty-nest” old people to avoid such tragedies.