AGEING IN INDIA : Some Issues and Challenges

Purnima R(Dept of Economics)

AGEING : Meaning and Implication

Ageing is the process becoming older Population ageing is the increase in the median age of

a population or an alteration in the age structure of a population so that elderly persons are increasingly represented within a country’s overall age structure.

It challenges the society to adapt, in order to maximise the health and functional capacity of older people as well as their social participation and security.

Causes of Ageing

Population ageing has three possible reasons : Migration, longer life expectancy and decreased birth rate

It has occurred due to development which has enabled better nutrition, sanitation, health care, education and economic well being

Fertility rates have declined and life expectancy has risen

The global share of old people i.e. 60 years and above increased from 9.2% in 1990 to 11.7% in 2013 and is estimated to reach 21.1% by 2050. (UN 2013)

India and China are the two largest ageing nations in Asia accounting for a significant share in the world’s aged. (Prakash 1994, UN 2013)

Demographic Trends : India

Number of aged (60+) increased from 56.7 million in 1991 to 103.8 million in 2011

In terms their proportion share in the total population their share increased from 6.8% to 8.6% over the period and expected to increase to 12.4% in 2026. (Charan Singh 2013)

There is an increased share of older females than older males and that of aged in rural areas than urban areas.

Thus there is predominance of rural aged and feminisation of ageing.

Total Male Female Total Male Female Total Male FemaleTOTAL RURAL URBAN

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%age Distribution of Population By Age Groups, Sex and Res-idence, 2012

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Comparative Demographic Facts : Age 60+

60+ in 2002 60+ in 20500

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India Vs World

India World

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80+ in 2002 80+ in 20500

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India Vs World

India World

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Comparative Demographic Facts : Age 80+

IMPACT OF AN AGEING

POPULATION

Increased demand for healthcare &

social services

Smaller security forces

Strain on working population

Emerging and Present Scenario

Increase in life expectancy Feminisation of elderly population Urbanisation Less 3% of GDP is spent on health ( While WHO guidelines are 5 to 6%) Economic Security unavailable to most elderly people Informal support and family structures are changing and disappearing

fast and Formal structures are not yet in place.

CHALLENGES POSED BY AGEING

1.HEALTH By 2020, it is projected that three quarters of all deaths in

developing nations could be age related. 16% of the world's elderly population will be INDIA .

8.1 million are blind in India out of which 6.5 million is due to cataract.

Over 10% of India’s elderly suffer from depression and 40-50% of elderly require psychiatric or psychological intervention at some point in their twilight years.

2. Financial Security

70% of aged depend for their day to day maintenance. The situation is worse for elderly females where 85% to 87% are economically dependent partially or fully.

Among aged who were once employed (as salaried employ or causal labour) about 79% in rural and 35% in urban areas have not received any benefits on retirement.

Priority Issues

1. Economic Security Introduction of pension schemes Income generation opportunities for able and willing older people Imaginative schemes for contributory pensions for those older people

who can afford to save in prime years Special schemes for women, Dalits and rural poor, disabled older people

and widows.

2. Health Security

Accessible, available and affordable Geriatric Health Facilities to all older persons

Provision of infrastructure and trained personnel Development of facilities in public health arena for the poor Exploration of Public Private Partnership in development of infrastructure

and financing of health care sector Special attention to Women, poor, disabled, rural, Dalits and destitute

National Policies For The Elderly

Article 41 of the Indian Constitution provides that the State shall, within the limits of its economic development, make effective provision for securing the right to work, to education and to public assistance in cases of unemployment, old age, sickness and disablement.

The Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizen Act, 2007 was enacted in December 2007 to ensure need-based, maintenance of parents and senior citizens and their welfare.

An Integrated Program for Older Person (IPOP) is being implemented since 1992 with the sole objective of improving the quality of life of senior citizens by providing basic amenities like shelter, food, medical care and entertainment opportunities.

National Policies For The Elderly (cont.)

The National Policy on Older Persons (NPOP) was announced in January 1999 to reaffirm the commitment to ensure well-being of elderly.

The Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior citizens Act, 2007, assigns responsibility and obligation on the heirs to provide care and support to the elderly.

Various ministries like the Railways, Rural Development and Finance also offer special concessions to the elderly

Pension Schemes : At a Glance

Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority was established in 2003 and has been making efforts to improve social security in India.

The fiscal impact of raising pensions is basically in terms of medical expenditure for the older population. *In the context of India, this burden would be high because of lack of public sector medical services, lack of medical personnel, malnutrition, poor sanitation, and infrastructure to deal with the ageing problem. ( Charan Singh)

One of the most important pension scheme is the Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pension Scheme (IGNOAPS). The government also introduced the Annapurna Scheme to ensure food security for those elderly who are eligible for IGNOAPS, but are presently not receiving it.

In order to widen the coverage of pension two more schemes were added : National Pension System (NPS)—Lite, and NPS—Swavalamban.

The target of Swavalamban is to encourage people from the unorganised sectors to save for the future.

Despite these efforts, the coverage of the Indian pension system has remained low.~Until 2013, only 1.2% of the working population had subscribed to the NPS, of which more than 50% were civil servants for whom the scheme was mandatory.(EPFO Annual Report 2012-13)~ An approximately 70% of the total 60+ population receives no pension at all.

Schemes for Unorganised Sector Workers National Family Benefit Scheme Janani Suraksha Yojana Janshree Bima Yojana Aam Admi Bima Yojana Rashtriya Swastha Yojana

Atal Pension Yojana (2015)

It was launched in continuation to the Jan Dhan Yojana Scheme to bring those employed in rural and unorganized sector under the ambit of Pension Schemes.  The idea of the scheme is to provide a definite pension to all Indians.

In Atal Pension Yojana, for every contribution made to the pension fund, the government will contribute an equal amount to his/her fund. Depending on the contribution made between the age 18yr and 40yr, at the age of 60 a sum of ₹1000, ₹2000  ₹3000, ₹4000 , or ₹5000 will be paid monthly.

EXAMPLE :If a subscriber Joins APY and opts for a 5000 pension plan and pays his premium as per norms then he will start getting Rs 5000 pension till he is alive after attaining 60 years of age. After subscriber is dead then his/her spouse will get the pension amount that subscriber was getting.  After both are gone then Nominee will get the corpus amount of Rs 8.5 lakhs.

What Can be Done? (Recommendations)

Improve present allocations of Social Pensions . Encourage Private Sector pension ( example: UTI Bank –Sewa

Bank pension scheme) Insurance Regulation and Development Authority (IRDA) may be

asked to enforce a uniform policy on all Insurance Companies, particularly Government owned companies, to continue medical insurance for whole life at a commensurate premium.

Facilities to be provided in the hospitals/ nursing homes/ pay and stay homes or any special centres for rehabilitation especially after the older persons has suffered from a debilitating disease. Increase in centres that provide support like physio-therapy, psychological counselling etc.

The design of hospitals and all public building and places should be conducive to the use of disabled elderly.

Promoting awareness about the concept of healthy ageing and the health problems and to involve the community in the process of their mitigation.

Provisions on National Rural Health Mission should also be weaved with this programme to make it more effective. NRHM ignores elderly

References and Sources

EPW Vol L No. 18 –Ageing in India (Charan Singh, Kanchan Bharati, Ayanendu Sanyal)

Ageing Population in India: Select Economic Issues-IIMB working paper (Charan Singh)

Studies on Ageing in India (S. Siva Raj) EPW Vol L No.44 -India’s Population Programme Obstacles and

Opportunities (Betsy Hartmann, Mohan Rao) http://pmjandhanyojana.co.in/atal-pension-yojana/

THANK YOU