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India Ageing Population
Context:
Preparing for India’s Ageing Population: Ensuring Social, Financial, and Active Lifestyles.
More on News:
- The projected magnitude of the elderly population(aged 60 & above) is estimated at 319 million by mid-century, growing by around 3% a year from 153 million.
- India ageing, elderly to make up 20.8% of the population by 2050: United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA report).
Vulnerabilities of the Elderly Population:
- Restrictions in activities of daily living (ADL):
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- ADLs refer to the daily activities that people perform to maintain their independence, such as bathing, dressing, eating, and using the bathroom.
- Restrictions in ADLs can be a significant vulnerability for the elderly, as it can lead to a loss of independence and increased reliance on others for daily care
- Multi-morbidity:
- It refers to the presence of multiple chronic health conditions, such as diabetes, hypertension, and arthritis.
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- While 75% of the elderly population are victims of one or more chronic diseases and 40% of those aged 45 and above have one or the other disability.
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- Two threatening forces are diabetes and cancer which appear to be frequent among India’s elderly.
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- 20% of those aged above 45 self-reporting some ailment, primarily associated with depression.
- Poverty:
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- Poverty is inherently gendered in old age when older women are more likely to be widowed, living alone, with no income and with fewer assets of their own, and fully dependent on family for support.
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- As per the UNFPA report population of people aged 80+ years will grow at a rate of around 279% between 2022 and 2050 with a “predominance of widowed and highly dependent very old women”
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- There also appears to be food insecurity among India’s elderly where 6% of those above 45 years of age ate smaller portions or skipped meals.
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- 5.3% of them did not eat despite being hungry.
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- This phenomenon may look minimal but has its bearing on nutrition and consequential morbidities.
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- Absence of any income:
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- It is significant vulnerability for the elderly, as it can lead to financial insecurity and reduced access to necessities such as food, housing, and healthcare.
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- More than 40% of the elderly in India are in the poorest wealth quintile, with about 18.7% of them living without an income, as per UNFPA report.
- Familial transition:
- With a growing trend towards nuclear family set-up, and increasing education, urbanisation and industrialisation, the vulnerability of elderly is rapidly increasing.
- Persistence of vulnerabilities in individual elderly arising simply out of the household features more than individual characteristics.
- Longitudinal Ageing Survey of India (LASI, 2017-18) reports that about 20% of the elderly population experience each of these vulnerabilities with widespread variation across the States.
Steps taken by the Government towards Elder People:
- Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana (RVY): Scheme for providing Physical Aids and Assisted-Living Devices for Senior Citizens.
- Ministry: The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.
- Objective: To provide aids and assisted living devices viz. walking sticks, elbow crutches, walkers/crutches, tripods/quadpods, hearing aids, wheelchairs, artificial dentures and spectacles, free of cost to senior citizens.
- Coverage: Under the revised Scheme, the beneficiaries extended to include senior citizens with monthly income not more than Rs. 15000/- and who suffer from age-related disabilities/infirmities as mentioned above along with senior citizens belonging to BPL category.
- The Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007:
- It came into being due to the gradual withering away of the Joint Family System in society.
- Old-Age Homes: State governments are empowered to establish old-age homes in every district to provide shelter and care to senior citizens.
- Maintenance Tribunals: Senior citizens who are unable to maintain themselves can apply to a maintenance tribunal for a monthly allowance from their children or heirs. State governments may set up maintenance tribunals in every sub-division to decide the level of maintenance.
- Appellate Tribunals: Appellate tribunals may be established at the district level to hear appeals against maintenance tribunal decisions.
- Monthly Allowance: State governments shall set the maximum monthly maintenance allowance.
- Punishment for Non-Compliance: Failure to pay the required monthly allowance can result in a fine of Rs 5,000 or up to three months imprisonment, or both.
- National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP):
- The elderly, widows, and disabled persons belonging to Below Poverty Line (BPL) and fulfilling eligibility criteria prescribed in the NSAP guidelines, are provided financial assistance ranging from Rs.200/- to Rs.500/- p.m.
- India has benefited significantly from the global understanding of ageing issues, which has evolved over the years. Key milestones include:
- 1982 Vienna International Plan of Action on Ageing
- UN Principles for Older Persons in 1991
- Second World Assembly on Ageing in Madrid in 2002.
- Global Efforts: The United Nations Decade of Healthy Ageing (2021–2030) is a global collaboration—aligned with the last 10 years of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)—that brings together governments, civil society, international agencies, to improve the lives of older people, their families and the communities:
- The Decade will address four areas of action:
- Creating age-friendly environments:
- Combating ageism:
- Providing integrated care
- Building long-term care systems
- The Decade will address four areas of action:
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About United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA)
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