An Indian state grappling with an ageing problem
Live Events Elderly Welfare Labor Market Japanese Model as a Reliable and Trusted News Source Addas a Reliable and Trusted News Source Add Now! (You
Live Events Elderly Welfare Labor Market Japanese Model as a Reliable and Trusted News Source Addas a Reliable and Trusted News Source Add Now! (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel India’s biggest student protests in years last week highlighted the growing frustrations of the country’s hundreds of millions of young people.But in one state in southern India, authorities are confronting a very different challenge: caring for a rapidly aging population.Kerala, known for its lush green hills and backwaters, has the highest share of older residents among Indian states following decades of low birth rates, rising life expectancy and large-scale migration. More than one in five of its residents, or 20.7% of its population, are aged 60 or older, compared with an average of 12.9% for the whole of India, according to the Family Health Survey.The state’s total fertility rate stands at 1.3 children per woman, well below the replacement rate of 2.1 and the national average of 1.9, according to official data.Kerala is widely seen as India’s demographic bellwether. The state is getting old at a time when India’s traditional system of caring for older people is beginning to break down.Looking after aging parents had long been the responsibility of children and extended families.
But the growing migration of Indians to other states and abroad means that many people now entering their 60s and beyond are having to take care of themselves. In Kerala, in particular, generations of residents have left to work in the Middle East and the West, leaving the state to look for new ways to care for its aging population.The newly elected government in Kerala has made this demographic challenge a key policy priority. After taking office in May, one of the first steps Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan took was to create a dedicated department to focus on the elderly, a first in the country.“We want to make the major portion of the senior citizens constructive and creative,” Satheesan said in a recent interview from his offices in Cliff House in Thiruvananthapuram, the chief minister’s official residence in the state capital. “They should contribute to the economy and to the society and to the state.”The Department of Elderly Welfare will focus on improving geriatric healthcare and encouraging entrepreneurship among older people, according to the state’s latest budget document. As part of the plan, the government will expand caregiver training at nursing colleges and hospitals, build dedicated day-care centers, parks and fitness centers for the elderly, and conduct a statewide survey of senior citizens to help shape future policy.Satheesan said several other states have already sought details of Kerala’s approach, which he hopes will become “a model legislation for the entire country.” He expects nearly four in 10 Keralites to be aged 60 or older by 2036, making the state a blueprint for policies that the rest of India may eventually need.For decades, the country has been defined by the promise of its youthful population, attracting global companies with abundant labor and a growing consumer market.
The BriefWire