India is ageing fast. The population aged 60 and above in the country is projected to more than double from 100 million in 2011 to 230 million in 2036. By last year, the elderly made up 11% of the country’s population; with improvements in life expectancy and falling fertility, there will be more elderly than children in India by 2050, as we reported in March 2024.
Is India prepared to cater to the needs of her growing elderly population? Not quite, experts say.
In this first of a two-part series, we examine how fast India is ageing and whether the country is prepared. We look at gaps in infrastructure – from old age homes to home-care services – and the lack of regulation and accountability in an unorganised but rapidly growing sector.
A 2024 NITI Aayog report said that the senior care system faces many challenges “due to the lack of a comprehensive, integrated policy for care and support”. There are infrastructure- and capacity-gaps “for supporting the health and welfare of the elderly, evidence-based knowledge repositories for geriatric illness management, enabling frameworks and monitoring mechanisms, and emergency response systems”, it said.
The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, the nodal ministry that looks after the welfare of the elderly population in...
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