The Elderly Dependents in India: A Critical Review

8/13/2019 The Elderly Dependents in India: A Critical Review

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The Indian Journal of Spatial Science

Vol. II No. 2 2011

Article 5

Te Elderly Dependents in India: A Critical Review

Swasti Vardhan Mishra

ISSN: 2249-4316


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The Indian Journal of Spatial Science

ISSN: 2249-4316

Vol. II No. 2 2011

Article 5Te Elderly Dependents in India: A Critical Review


Paper received on 22.08.2011Paper accepted in revised form on 11.11.2011

Te Geographical Institute, 2011

Published by Prof Ashis Sarkar

on behalf of Te Geographical InstituteDepartment of Geography

Presidency University (formerly College)86/1 College Street, Kolkata 700073, India

[email protected]. +91 33 2241 1960 Ext. 206

ypeset and layout by Computer Club

[email protected]


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Vol. II, No. 2, Article 5 1

Te Elderly Dependents in India: A Critical Review


Tis paper aims at evaluating the situation of the elderly dependency in different states of India from the perspectivesof demography, economy and the changes in the life expectancy. Te situation is evaluated through a conventionalmeasure of old age dependency ratio (OADR) and an economic measure of old age economic dependency rate(OAEDR) and a latest measure of prospective old age dependency ratio (POADR).Te use of census data, 2001 andstate wise life tables (2004-2008) are made to arrive at conclusions. Te focus of the paper is on emphasising thepoint that elders are not burdens, in spite of the fact that they contribute at very low mark to the economy, theyare socially an asset. Few suggestions are provided by which dependency could be disburdened and old age securitycan be strengthened. At the end, few of the government policies to counter the old age insecurity are provided tolook at the presently functioning administrative machinery.

Keywords: Ageing, Life Expectancy, Prospective Age, Location Quotient, Dependency

Notestein has dened Ageing as a triumph ofcivilisation and a crucial determinant of economicdevelopment (Chakraborti, 2004). Ageing,demographically speaking, is the growth in theproportion of aged population (60+) in the totalpopulation, over a period. UN denes a populationabove 65 years of age asagedand denes a countryageing where the proportion of people over 65 years

of age reaches 7%. Aging is the result of the interplayof two forces of population dynamics-fertility andmortality. Tere are two processes involved in theageing of a population ageing due to change atthe base, attributable to the decline in fertility andageing due to change at the apex, attributable tothe mortality reduction in the elderly population.

able 1 and Fig. 1, show the trend of elderlypopulation in different census years. Te proportionaged has increased from 5.6 % in 1961 to 6.5%in 1981 and 7.4% in 2001. Te data has been

procured from the Census of India and asterisk (*)denotes that the data are projected.Dependency is the propensity of a group or

a section of population to depend on the othersection of the same population for meeting itsneeds and requirements. Burden on the other handis a derogatory term, which implies the intolerableand stress creating characteristic of a dependentpopulation. Aged population is considered as adependent burden from two aspectsi. Te aged do not contribute to the economy

due to their unproductive nature.

ii. Te needs of the aged are met by transferringthe economic fruits of the productivepopulation through various scal mechanisms.

Te situation of dependency in Indiais typical and shows certain exclusivecharacteristics-a. Te familial assistance in the old age

is higher in India. According to CSO,Govt. of India 2011 report around 75-

85% of the aged are supported by their

able 1: Distribution of Populationby Broad Age Groups

Year Age-Groups PercentageChange in

0 - 1 4

1 5 - 5 9

6 0 +

T o t a l Elderly

Population

1951 38.4 56.1 5.5 100 -1961 41.1 53.3 5.6 100 23.9

1971 42 52 6 100 33.7

1981 39.7 53.9 6.4 100 33

1991 37.6 55.7 6.7 100 29.7

2001 35.3 56.9 7.4 100 25.2

2011* 29 62.7 8.2 100 -

2021* 25.1 64 10.7 100 -


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n Te interest of the labour union decreasesfrom the recruitment of young and dynamic

workers and involvement in researchand development to income and pensionreservations. (Chakraborti, 2004)

Secondly, as the population ages and becomefrail, the cost on healthcare as well as infrastructurerises. Te Asian countries face double burden ofdiseases. Te healthcare costs escalate on two fronts-expenditure is to be made for struggling against thecommunicable diseases and malnutrition on onehand, on the other, the non- communicable diseasessuch as cardiovascular diseases, cancer, dementia,impairments, blindness have to be dealt with also.Moreover, with the oldest old population (80+)increasing at a much rapid rate, there is sudden need

of care rather than cure. It has two implications:(a) if India has not enough resources to invest inthe care industry, there are chances of wastage ofhuman resource, as the family members would haveto look after the elder and in most of the casesone particular member is responsible for the same.Tis member might have to trade off economicallygainful activity for looking after the aged, and (b) ifIndia invests in the care industry, then in the longrun this investment would bore fruits in terms ofemployment generation.

able 2 and Fig. 2 show the old age dependencyrates of India over different census years. Te rateof change in old age dependency rst showed adeclining rate of change from 1961 to 1991 but increased to all time high by 0.9% during 1991-2001. Te sudden increase can be due to the onsetof the processes of liberalisation, privatisation andglobalisation in the year 1992, which played itspart to bring in the improvements in the healthcare and sanitation conditions. Tis affected themortality conditions of the elderly, positively.

Te other side of the coin is bit lustrous andoptimistic. According to Getzen and Gerdthamet al, there is no positive correlation between agestructure and health care expenditure. Zweifel etal also found that ageing had no effect on percapita health care expenditure. Te views of Barroare inspiring, he holds the view that the savingsare done not to spend on old ages rather for thebequest to the next generation. Moreover, Ageingis accompanied by lowering of fertility, so itcan be assumed that the increase in the old age

economic dependency is balanced by the decrease

families, either by spouse, children orgrandchildren.

b. Te proportion of elderly workers ishigh in India, particularly in the ruralareas, where the concept of retirement isvague (James, 1994). According to NSSO2007-08, 39% of the aged population isinvolved in any sort of productive work.Te reason for large chunk of elderly

workers could be their huge involvementin unorganised and agricultural sector.

c. Te adult population of India is burdened with Double-Dependency the fertilityhas not dropped as desired, resulting inyoung dependency burden. Te youngdependency is coupled with reduction inold age mortality to shoot up the totaldependency.

Tere had been numerous theories andhypothesis to proclaim aged population asdependent burden. Te hypothesis which assertsthat the labour productivity decreases with age,argues in terms ofn Elderly cannot adapt well to the changing

technology.n Under controlled laboratory conditions,

psychologists observed that both physical andmental reactions decline from middle agesonwards. (Chakraborti, 2004)

n Te social roles attached to the adult and theold population inuences their sub-conscious

mind and drive them accordingly.

Fig 1.


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able 2: Old Age DependencyRatio of India, 1961-2001

Year A l l

M a l e

F e m a l e

R u r a

l

U r b a n

1961 10.9 10.9 10.9 11.4 8.7

1971 11.5 11.4 11.6 12.2 8.9

1981 12 11.8 12.2 13 9.2

1991 12.2 12.2 12.2 13.2 9.7

2001 13.1 13.1 13.8 14.1 10.8

Fig 2.

in the young age economic dependency. Aaron,optimistically, points out that the saving rates ofthe retired people (65+) are less that of those in theage bracket 45-64 but higher than that of those inthe age group 25-44.

International initiatives in the form of MadridInternational plan of action on ageing(2002),United Nations proclamation on ageing, Shanghai

plan of action (2002) and Macau outcomedocument (2007), have been working to bring outGraceful ageing in the world domain. Gracefulageing is a process of optimising opportunities forphysical, social and mental well being throughoutlife, in order to ensure a healthy, independent,quality life in older age (Chakraborti, 2004). Te

World Health Organization (WHO) has termedthis process Active Ageing since the late nineties.Te approach towards ageing, by UN is basedon the principles of independence, participation,

dignity, care and self fullment. Te shift has been

observed from Needs based approach, where theaged population are held as targets to Rights basedparticipatory approach that recognises the equalityof opportunity and treatment in all aspects of life ofthe elderly population (Chakraborti, 2004)

odays young are tomorrows elders- Tisstatement is the backdrop of my work. Te elderlymight be frail and weak, incapable of doingphysical labour and contributing nothing to theeconomy- but that does not implies that that theyare unproductive. Elders are the personicationof expertise, experience and a force that bindsemotionally and commands discipline and dignity.

With prompt policies, initiatives and harnessingthe typical elderly qualities ageing can be mademuch graceful.

Methodology Data Te data that has been employed to show variousmeasures of dependency and situation of elderly inIndia are taken from- Te Census of India, Offi ceof the Registrar General of India and the state wiseLife ables, computed for the period of 2004-2008.

Old Age Dependency Ratio (OADR)Tis is a conventional measure of elderly dependency,

which denes that elderly population (60+) aredependent on adult population (15-59), generallythe result is multiplied by 100. Te ultimate resultgives the number of elders per 100 adults.

But here, I have not multiplied the results by100 which gives the number of elders per adultin the population. Tis measure does not takeinto account the increase in Life expectancy oremployment situation.

Old Age Economic Dependency Rate (OAEDR)Frank Hobbs in the book Te methods and materialsof demography(2004), pointed that the conventionaldependency does not points to the actual economicdependency. He suggested that instead of OADR,

the economically inactive population should be


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divided by economically active population to getat economically dependent ratio. Here, the old agepopulation (60+) has been divided by the numberof workers to get at economically dependent ratio.Te measure has been termed as Old Age Economic

Dependency Rate (OAEDR), as there is ampleprobability of 60+ population being involved in the working population and said earlier, the chances arefairly good in India.

Prospective Old Age Dependency RatioTis is a measure of old-age dependency, where thedependent age is considered based on remaining

years of life (prospective measure) in place of thenumber of years lived (retrospective measure).Tis measure has been introduced by Sandersonand Scherbov (2008, 2010) to accommodate thechanges in Life expectancy over time and space.Tey considered two ages- Chronological age (usedin the conventional OADR measure) and theProspective age (used in the new POADR measure).Prospective age is the age whose assigned societalroles or duties are postponed to later ages, implicitby increase in the Life expectancy. For example in

case of Delhi, the age at which life expectancy isbelow 15 years is 75 and the same threshold is 65years in case of India, so it can be concluded thatfor a person of age 75 years in Delhi the prospectiveage is 65 years. POADR is obtained by dividing thepopulation having life expectancy less than 15 yearsby the population above 20 years of age havingLife expectancy more than 15 years. Te lower agelimit of the age group with Life expectancy lessthan 15 years has been termed asOld-Age threshold by Sanderson and Scherbov.

Sanderson and Scherbov stated that the increasein life expectancy would bring in shift in the humanbehaviour and there would be deliberate delaysin the activities by several years. Te population

would postpone their marriages, child bearing orextend their period of study- 40 is the new 30.

I have adjusted the measure for the sake ofeasy comparability among the different measures ofelderly dependency, instead of using 20 year as thelower limit of the denominator, I have used 15 yearas the lower limit.

Location Quotient Location Quotient (LQ) is a simple measure. Whichcompares the achievement of a sub-areal unit in aparticular aspect to the achievement of the wholecountry in the same aspect. Tis measure reects

whether the sub-areal unit is performing aboveor below the national average. Location Quotient(LQ), in case of Old age Dependency is denedas follows,

Te result of the Location Quotient, if below1 indicates that the sub-areal unit (states or unionterritories), are having dependency below thenational average and vice-versa.

Te Elderly Dependents in India Te spatial location of elderly dependency in Indiais viewed from the three aspects- Demographically,Economically and through change in Lifeexpectancy. Te elderly dependency in India, onaverage, is highest with respect to Prospective oldage dependency ratio (POADR), higher in OAEDRand lowest in the case of OADR ( able no. 4), whichimplies that though India has highest percentageof population in the working age group (15-59),the percentage working is very low ( able no. 3).Te ample opportunity to extend ones educationin recent times in India has prompted the tendencyto get into work at later ages than what used to

be few decades back (reason for higher OAEDRthan OADR). Employment in unorganised sector,disguised unemployment in the rural agriculturalsector also plays its part, besides unemployment,to shoot up the dependency ratio. Te high marksof POADR spell out the lack of interest andinitiative to increase the life expectancy. It can beconcluded, though implicitly, by looking at therange of all the three measures of dependency that,the age structure of the states are having fairly gooddifferences (OADR range- 0.09941) but in terms

of employment generation the states are wider apart


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(OAEDR range-0.24713). Te states are closest when the question of increasing the life expectancycrops up (POADR range- 0.08682), that means thestates are more or less at same footing in prosperingthe health policies and infrastructure ( able 4).

Te highest OADR and OAEDR values arefound in Kerala (Fig. 3 & 4), obviously due toits age structure- the percent elder is 10.48% (3%above the national average) and due to laggingbehind in employment generation- employmentrate of 32.30% (7% below the national average)( able 3).

Kerala is the only state to reach the nalphase of the Demographic transition (Office of theRegistrar general and Census commissioner, India),thus the age pyramid of the state is becoming

cylindrical gradually to accommodate growingelder population and diminishing youngest young.It is called a Remittance economy with mostof its working population engaged in economicactivities abroad, most specically in the MiddleEast. Te low employment rate, which forms thereason for high OAEDR could be due to tworeasons- (i) the regular ow of high income inthe form of remittance discourages the propensityto work by eligible working class. (ii) the censusenumeration might suffer from the coverage erroras the population which resides abroad might beleft out. Te elderly dependency might has beenalso increased due to the return of emigrant old agepopulation as they retire from work (James, 1994).

Punjab is the closest second in case of OADRand distant second in respect of OAEDR (Fig. 3& 4). Te old age group (60+) forms 9% of thetotal population resulting in higher OADR. Teeconomy of Punjab is based on agricultural sector.Tis is a state which has fully operationalisedthe Green Revolution- so there might be amplechances of disguised unemployment in the formof employment in the family farm, where themarginal productivity of the labour is too less tobe considered. Moreover, Punjabis have a hightendency to invest their earnings in different sector,

which implies that the return from the investmentsmight be too high to instigate the propensity to

work. Like Kerala, people from Punjab also havehigh tendency to work abroad and send remittances,they have generally migrated to North American

countries like USA, Canada.

Himachal Pradesh comes third in case ofOADR due to its ageing population (9% of thetotal population) but in OAEDR (Fig. 3 & 4) ithas been pushed back as the employment scenario isprofoundly good ( able 3), when compared to the

national average (10% above the national average). Arunachal Pradesh records the lowest OADRand OAEDR (Fig. 3 & 4), among the states,owing to the less percentage of elderly in the totalpopulation (4.55%) and comparatively fair rate ofemployment (around 44%) ( able 3).

Coming to the Union erritories, Puducherryhas the highest Dependency burden, both OADRand OAEDR. Dadra and Nagar Haveli, has got thelowest OADR and OAEDR- its aged populationis bit high than half of the Indias average. Te

employment rate, on the other hand is secondhighest in case of Dadra and Nagar Haveli, whichmake its way to bring down the dependency.

Te POADR is an interesting measure ofdependency, which takes into account the changesin the Life expectancy. As said earlier, the increasingLife expectancy inuences a population to be intothe economically productive work for a much longertime and inuences policies regarding retirementage and benets associated with it accordingly. TePOADR value for India is 0.2441 ( able 4 &Fig. 5), a bit less than double the OADR. India hasnot performed well in raising its Life expectancy,

which is 66.72 at birth and 69.84 at rst yearof life ( able 3). Karnataka, Delhi, Maharashtra,Gujarat has the lowest POADR- which meansthat they have performed well in bringing up theirLife expectancy. When compared to the nationalaverage, where the Old Age Treshold (OA ) is 65,the OA in Delhi is 75 years and 70 years in caseof Karnataka, Gujarat and Delhi.

Tis implies that a person aged 75 yearsin Delhi and 70 years in other 3 states, has aProspective Age of 65 years, i.e., they can performat the same level as that of a 65 year old. Tis drawson a keen interest regarding retirement regulationsand benets. Retirement ages could be shifted to70-75 years in these states and the criteria for allother schemes could be the same age group.

amil Nadu and West Bengal has the highestPOADR, in spite of their life expectancy valuesabove the national average ( able 3). Te fairly

good Life expectancy of these two states are


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T a b l e 3 : P e r c e n t E l d e r , P e r c e n t A d u l t , E m p l o y m e n t R a t e , N o . o f W o r k e r s o f D i ff e r e n t S t a t e s o f I n d i a , 2 0 0 1

S t a t e / U T

T o t a l

P o p u l a t i o n

A d u l t

P o p u l a t i o n

( 1 5 - 5 9 )

E l d e r l y

P o p u l a t i o n

( 6 0 + )

P e r c e n t

A d u l t

P e r c e n t

E l d e r

N o . o f

W o r k e r s

E m p l o y m e n t

R a t e

L i f e

E x p e c t a n c y A t

1 Y e a r O f A g e

I n d i a

1 0 2 8 6 1 0 3 2 8

5 8 5 6 3 8 7 2 3

7 6 6 2 2 3 2 1

5 6 . 9

3

7 . 4 5

4 0 2 2 3 4 7 2 4

3 9 . 1

6 9 . 8

4

A n d h r a P r a d e s h

7 6 2 1 0 0 0 7

4 5 8 9 0 3 5 4

5 7 8 8 0 7 8

6 0 . 2

2

7 . 5 9

3 4 8 9 3 8 5 9

4 5 . 7 9

7 1 . 0

7

A r u n a c h a l P r a d e s h

1 0 9 7 9 6 8

6 0 4 1 1 7

4 9 9 1 6

5 5 . 0

2

4 . 5 5

4 8 2 9 0 2

4 3 . 9 8

-

A s s a m

2 6 6 5 5 5 2 8

1 5 0 9 5 8 4 6

1 5 6 0 3 6 6

5 6 . 6

3

5 . 8 5

9 5 3 8 5 9 1

3 5 . 7 8

6 5 . 3

4

B i h a r

8 2 9 9 8 5 0 9

4 2 4 4 5 2 5 9

5 5 1 0 2 7 4

5 1 . 1

4

6 . 6 4

2 7 9 7 4 6 0 6

3 3 . 7

6 7 . 4

3

C h a t t i s g a r h

2 0 8 3 3 8 0 3

1 1 6 0 8 6 8 4

1 5 0 4 3 8 3

5 5 . 7

2

7 . 2 2

9 6 7 9 8 7 1

4 6 . 4 6

6 7 . 9

4

G o a

1 3 4 7 6 6 8

8 9 7 1 5 7

1 1 2 2 7 3

6 6 . 5

7

8 . 3 3

5 2 2 8 5 5

3 8 . 8

-

G u j a r a t

5 0 6 7 1 0 1 7

3 0 5 0 0 5 4 9

3 4 9 9 0 6 3

6 0 . 1

9

6 . 9 1

2 1 2 5 5 5 2 1

4 1 . 9 5

7 1 . 3

5

H a r y a n a

2 1 1 4 4 5 6 4

1 1 8 9 9 9 9 6

1 5 8 4 0 8 9

5 6 . 2

8

7 . 4 9

8 3 7 7 4 6 6

3 9 . 6 2

7 2 . 9

8

H i m a c h a l P r a d e s h

6 0 7 7 9 0 0

3 6 3 1 2 3 0

5 4 7 5 6 4

5 9 . 7

4

9 . 0 1

2 9 9 2 4 6 1

4 9 . 2 4

6 5 . 2

8

J a m m u A n d K a s h m i r

1 0 1 4 3 7 0 0

5 8 0 5 6 3 6

6 7 5 3 2 4

5 7 . 2

3

6 . 6 6

3 7 5 3 8 1 5

3 7 . 0 1

7 3 . 5

J h a r k h a n d

2 6 9 4 5 8 2 9

1 4 6 2 5 1 6 5

1 5 7 8 6 6 2

5 4 . 2

8

5 . 8 6

1 0 1 0 9 0 3 0

3 7 . 5 2

6 5 . 9

2

K a r n a t a k a

5 2 8 5 0 5 6 2

3 1 8 9 1 0 9 5

4 0 6 2 0 2 2

6 0 . 3

4

7 . 6 9

2 3 5 3 4 7 9 1

4 4 . 5 3

7 1 . 5

6

K e r a l a

3 1 8 4 1 3 7 4

2 0 1 8 2 7 0 0

3 3 3 5 6 7 5

6 3 . 3

9

1 0 . 4 8

1 0 2 8 3 8 8 7

3 2 . 3

7 5 . 6

3

M a d h y a P r a d e s h

6 0 3 4 8 0 2 3

3 2 6 5 5 1 6 0

4 2 8 0 9 2 4

5 4 . 1

1

7 . 0 9

2 5 7 9 3 5 1 9

4 2 . 7 4

6 6 . 8

M a h a r a s h t r a

9 6 8 7 8 6 2 7

5 7 2 0 5 5 0 9

8 4 5 4 6 6 0

5 9 . 0

5

8 . 7 3

4 1 1 7 3 3 5 1

4 2 . 5

7 2 . 6

4

M a n i p u r

2 1 6 6 7 8 8

1 3 1 0 0 8 0

1 4 5 4 7 0

6 0 . 4

6

6 . 7 1

9 4 5 2 1 3

4 3 . 6 2

-

M e g h a l a y a

2 3 1 8 8 2 2

1 2 2 9 0 5 9

1 0 5 7 2 6

5 3

4 . 5 6

9 7 0 1 4 6

4 1 . 8 4

-

M i z o r a m

8 8 8 5 7 3

5 2 5 0 3 8

4 9 0 2 3

5 9 . 0

9

5 . 5 2

4 6 7 1 5 9

5 2 . 5 7

-

N a g a l a n d

1 9 9 0 0 3 6

1 1 6 6 5 6 0

9 0 3 2 3

5 8 . 6

2

4 . 5 4

8 4 7 7 9 6

4 2 . 6

-


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T a b l e 4 : M e a s u r e s o f E l d e r l y D e p e n d e n c y o f D i ff e r e n t S t a t e s o f I n d i a a n d t h e i r L o c a t i o n Q u o t i e n t s , 2 0 0 1

S t a t e / U T

N o . o

f W o r k e r s

E l d e r l y

P o p u l a t i o n ( 6 0 + )

A d u l t

P o p u l a t i o n ( 1 5 - 5 9 )

O A D R

O A E D R

P O A D R

L Q O A D R

L Q O A E D R

I n d i a

4 0 2 2 3 4 7 2 4

7 6 6 2 2 3 2 1

5 8 5 6 3 8 7 2 3

0 . 1 3 1

0 . 1 9 1

0 . 2 4 4

-

-

A n d h r a P r a d e s h

3 4 8 9 3 8 5 9

5 7 8 8 0 7 8

4 5 8 9 0 3 5 4

0 . 1 2 6

0 . 1 6 6

0 . 2 4 5

0 . 9 6 4

0 . 8 7 1

A r u n a c h a l P r a d e s h

4 8 2 9 0 2

4 9 9 1 6

6 0 4 1 1 7

0 . 0 8 3

0 . 1 0 3

-

0 . 6 3 2

0 . 5 4 3

A s s a m

9 5 3 8 5 9 1

1 5 6 0 3 6 6

1 5 0 9 5 8 4 6

0 . 1 0 3

0 . 1 6 4

0 . 1 9 0

0 . 7 9 0

0 . 8 5 9

B i h a r

2 7 9 7 4 6 0 6

5 5 0 1 2 7 4

4 2 4 4 5 2 5 9

0 . 1 3 0

0 . 1 9 7

0 . 2 2 6

0 . 9 9 1

1 . 0 3 2

C h a t t i s g a r h

9 6 7 9 8 7 1

1 5 0 4 3 8 3

1 1 6 0 8 6 8 4

0 . 1 3 0

0 . 1 5 5

0 . 2 1 7

0 . 9 9 1

0 . 8 1 6

G o a

5 2 2 8 5 5

1 1 2 2 7 3

8 9 7 1 5 7

0 . 1 2 5

0 . 2 1 5

-

0 . 9 5 7

1 . 1 2 7

G u j a r a t

2 1 2 5 5 5 2 1

3 4 9 9 0 6 3

3 0 5 0 0 5 4 9

0 . 1 1 5

0 . 1 6 5

0 . 1 6 6

0 . 8 7 7

0 . 8 6 4

H a r y a n a

8 3 7 7 4 6 6

1 5 8 4 0 8 9

1 1 8 9 9 9 9 6

0 . 1 3 3

0 . 1 8 9

0 . 1 8 5

1 . 0 1 8

0 . 9 9 3

H i m a c h a l P r a d e s h

2 9 9 2 4 6 1

5 4 7 5 6 4

3 6 3 1 2 3 0

0 . 1 5 1

0 . 1 8 3

0 . 1 8 2

1 . 1 5 3

0 . 9 6 1

J a m m u A n d K a s h m i r

3 7 5 3 8 1 5

6 7 5 3 2 4

5 8 0 5 6 3 6

0 . 1 1 6

0 . 1 8 0

0 . 1 8 2

0 . 8 8 9

0 . 9 4 4

J h a r k h a n d

1 0 1 0 9 0 3 0

1 5 7 8 6 6 2

1 4 6 2 5 1 6 5

0 . 1 0 8

0 . 1 5 6

0 . 1 9 1

0 . 8 2 5

0 . 8 2 0

K a r n a t a k a

2 3 5 3 4 7 9 1

4 0 6 2 0 2 2

3 1 8 9 1 0 9 5

0 . 1 2 7

0 . 1 7 3

0 . 1 6 0

0 . 9 7 4

0 . 9 0 6

K e r a l a

1 0 2 8 3 8 8 7

3 3 3 5 6 7 5

2 0 1 8 2 7 0 0

0 . 1 6 5

0 . 3 2 4

0 . 1 8 4

1 . 2 6 4

1 . 7 0 3

M a d h y a P r a d e s h

2 5 7 9 3 5 1 9

4 2 8 0 9 2 4

3 2 6 5 5 1 6 0

0 . 1 3 1

0 . 1 6 6

0 . 2 2 4

1 . 0 0 2

0 . 8 7 1

M a h a r a s h t r a

4 1 1 7 3 3 5 1

8 4 5 4 6 6 0

5 7 2 0 5 5 0 9

0 . 1 4 8

0 . 2 0 5

0 . 1 6 4

1 . 1 3 0

1 . 0 7 8

M a n i p u r

9 4 5 2 1 3

1 4 5 4 7 0

1 3 1 0 0 8 0

0 . 1 1 1

0 . 1 5 4

-

0 . 8 4 9

0 . 8 0 8

M e g h a l a y a

9 7 0 1 4 6

1 0 5 7 2 6

1 2 2 9 0 5 9

0 . 0 8 6

0 . 1 0 9

-

0 . 6 5 8

0 . 5 7 2

M i z o r a m

4 6 7 1 5 9

4 9 0 2 3

5 2 5 0 3 8

0 . 0 9 3

0 . 1 0 5

-

0 . 7 1 4

0 . 5 5 1

N a g a l a n d

8 4 7 7 9 6

9 0 3 2 3

1 1 6 6 5 6 0

0 . 0 7 7

0 . 1 0 7

-

0 . 5 9 2

0 . 5 5 9


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O r i s s a

1 4 2 7 6 4 8 8

3 0 3 9 1 0 0

2 1 4 9 5 6 2 6

0 . 1 4 1

0 . 2 1 3

0 . 2 1 2

1 . 0 8 1

1 . 1 1 8

P u n j a b

9 1 2 7 4 7 4

2 1 9 1 6 9 3

1 4 4 5 5 5 2 8

0 . 1 5 2

0 . 2 4 0

0 . 1 8 5

1 . 1 5 9

1 . 2 6 1

R a j a s t h a n

2 3 7 6 6 6 5 5

3 8 1 0 2 7 2

2 9 8 6 6 1 0 1

0 . 1 2 8

0 . 1 6 0

0 . 1 7 7

0 . 9 7 5

0 . 8 4 2

S i k k i m

2 6 3 0 4 3

2 9 0 4 0

3 2 0 9 6 6

0 . 0 9 1

0 . 1 1 0

-

0 . 6 9 2

0 . 5 8 0

T a m i l N a d u

2 7 8 7 8 2 8 2

5 5 0 7 4 0 0

3 9 7 5 8 4 6 3

0 . 1 3 9

0 . 1 9 8

0 . 2 4 5

1 . 0 5 9

1 . 0 3 7

T r i p u r a

1 1 5 9 5 6 1

2 3 2 5 4 9

1 8 8 6 2 9 7

0 . 1 2 3

0 . 2 0 1

-

0 . 9 4 3

1 . 0 5 3

U t t a r P r a d e s h

5 3 9 8 3 8 2 4

1 1 6 4 9 4 6 8

8 5 8 8 8 2 1 0

0 . 1 3 6

0 . 2 1 6

0 . 2 2 6

1 . 0 3 7

1 . 1 3 3

U t t a r a k h a n d

3 1 3 4 0 3 6

6 5 4 3 5 6

4 7 3 0 2 4 7

0 . 1 3 8

0 . 2 0 9

-

1 . 0 5 8

1 . 0 9 6

W e s t B e n g a l

2 9 4 8 1 6 9 0

5 7 0 0 0 9 9

4 7 7 1 8 9 7 6

0 . 1 2 0

0 . 1 9 3

0 . 2 4 6

0 . 9 1 3

1 . 0 1 5

A & N I s l a n d

1 3 6 2 5 4

1 7 3 6 6

2 3 2 4 6 3

0 . 0 7 5

0 . 1 2 8

-

0 . 5 7 1

0 . 6 6 9

C h a n d i g a r h

3 4 0 4 2 2

4 4 9 1 2

5 9 3 2 3 5

0 . 0 7 6

0 . 1 3 2

-

0 . 5 7 9

0 . 6 9 3

D a d r a & N a g a r H a v e l i

1 1 4 1 2 2

8 8 1 4

1 3 3 8 1 4

0 . 0 6 6

0 . 0 7 7

-

0 . 5 0 4

0 . 4 0 5

D a m a n & D i u

7 2 7 9 1

8 0 4 2

1 0 6 8 9 7

0 . 0 7 5

0 . 1 1 1

-

0 . 5 7 5

0 . 5 8

D e l h i

4 5 4 5 2 3 4

7 1 9 6 5 0

8 6 1 6 7 4 2

0 . 0 8 4

0 . 1 5 8

0 . 1 6 2

0 . 6 3 9

0 . 8 3 1

L a k s h a d w e e p

1 5 3 5 4

3 7 2 9

3 6 1 3 4

0 . 1 0 3

0 . 2 4 3

-

0 . 7 8 9

1 . 2 7 5

P u d u c h e r r y

3 4 2 6 5 5

8 1 0 1 6

6 2 9 8 3 0

0 . 1 2 9

0 . 2 3 6

-

0 . 9 8 3

1 . 2 4 1

S o u r c e : C o m p i l e d b y t h e a u t h o r f r o m C e n s u s o f I n d i a


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Fig 4.

Fig 5.

Fig 3.

Fig 6.

masked by the enormity of the elderly populationdue to low Old Age Treshold (OA ) at65 years.

Looking at the data tables it must be clearthat the Indian states are covering up the stages ofDemographic ransition, without any improvementin the Life expectancy and economic situations.In almost all of the states and union territories,

except few, POADR holds the highest position,

followed by the OAEDR, with OADR standing atthe lowest mark.

Location quotient is a simple graphical measureto show the over performance or under performanceof a state in Demographic transition, employmentgeneration and increasing life expectancy, whencompared to national average. Te states markedas red shows their under performance in bringing

down the dependency and those marked blue


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shows their over performance i.e., those above 1are marked in red (Fig 6, 7 & 8). Te intensityof a colour shows the intensity of the performancecompared to the national average

Disburdening the Dependency Few suggestions can be provided to unburden the

dependency in the context of India i. Te exclusivity of elderly dependency in Indiais the familial assistance to the elder person.Te family system in India had traditionallybeen joint or extended, this resulted in olderperson being assigned the role of a guardianand they were looked after by all. Recently,the trend has become diagonally opposite- thegrowing economic and emotional nucleationhas resulted in nuclear families. Te olderpeople are being left at the native place, while

children go on a job spree with their family.If the structure of joint or extended familycould be reinstalled, of course with the sameeconomic and emotional characteristics, theold age dependency could be diluted on socialand psychological fronts.

ii. Another approach towards reducing the elderlydependency could be their engagement with

work, which must be of their interest. Tepost-retirement jobs such as guest faculty inacademic institutions, experienced guidance

personnel in technical elds could be the best

possible option to nourish the elders witheconomic and psychological means. Tis is agood way by which the experience and expertiseof the old population could be harnessed.

iii. Te old age is a psychosocial construct; aperson is old if he thinks himself old. Telabour laws must be framed in such a way that

there must not be any xed retirement age, assuch. Te policy framers think that by decidingthe retirement age, the scope for employmentof the young generation could be sustained.But very much contrary to the view is thefact that such decisions seldom increase theemployment situations (Chakraborti, 2004).

iv. Te clause for voluntary retirement scheme(VRS) could be scrapped, as a means to bringdown the dependency. Te clause could beoutlawed so that government does not have to

bear the cost of the extra years of retirement.Te suggestion could be substituted for a lowearly retirement benet.

v. With around 94% of the working class works inan unorganized sector1, the government shouldbe able to enforce its retirement and insurancebenet at much rapid pace. National old agepension scheme (NOAPS) and Annapurnascheme should be strengthened so as to facilitatethe maximum number of person in the targetgroup. Rs 20, as the price for daily sustenance,

dened by the Planning Commission is a

Fig 7. Fig 8.


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most meagre amount. endulkar committeeand NCEUS recommendations to increase themonthly monetary requirement to get abovethe poverty level have not brought fruitfulresults. If Rs 20 is the daily requirement then

Rs 200 per month (NOAPS) is nothing lessthan an embarrassment to the target group.vi. Te government could seek asset-based

programme in place of transfer-basedprogramme. Tis helps in two forms-rstly,it will lessen the pressure on governmentseconomic resources, secondly, the monthlydeposits of the target groups could beinvested in the nancial market for gains. Temonthly deposits must be too low to enableinclusive participation or the benets could

be kept at different levels based on the levelof monthly deposits, which would providethe working class with array of opportunities.

At whatever low mark the monthly deposits would be, the government is sure to bear lesscost than the transfer based system, recently,in 2011 government has decided asset-basedprogramme for public, private and unorganizedsector workers. Te monthly deposit has beenplanned at Rs 500 and out of the total deposithalf of the money would be invested in the

nancial market.vii. For the asset-based system to gain stronghold among the masses, the ination mustbe brought under control. Tis might bringcondence among the elders that their money

would not lose value in future, besides, thetaxation policy could be manoeuvred to give theelders maximum return on their investment.

viii. Post retirement employment in the form ofsmall retail centres or training centres couldbe provided to the elderly population. Tis

scheme could be channelized through micronancing institutions and credit can beprovided at suitable rate.

ix. Women and destitutes are the most deprivedgroup in the elderly population. Teir anguishintensies if they are issue less or have beenabandoned by their children. Several NGOsare working to rehabilitate such elders butdearth of appropriate funding due to tight-sted regulation of the government is creatingan obstacle. Te government must lighten

the control and enhance the capacity of the

network of NGOs. It should assign for itselfthe role of a guardian and inspect and scrutinisethe works of the NGOs.

x. Te maintenance and welfare of parentsand senior citizens act, 2007 is a powerful

mechanism to secure the needs of the older agepopulation. But the act must be supplemented with certain scal measures favourable tochildren. ax concession, subsidies, etc couldbe provided to children who look after theirparents, which would act as an impetus as wellas compensates for the Economic burden ofthe elderly population.

xi. Government could also look for increasingemployment capacity of the public enterprisesand for balancing this, it can reduce the wages

or the retirement benets. If this could berealised- then two motives of reducing thedependency as well as equitable distributionof income could be accomplished.

xii. As said earlier, rural agricultural sector hasnever seen any formal retirement age. o curtaildependency in this eld- easily available creditat lowest possible rate, appropriate technologyand economically viable procurement servicecould be transfused to the every corner of thecountry. Tis would enable maximum return

to the farmer. Regarding the landless labourers,besides, self employment and old age benets,there could be a special provision for theireconomic rehabilitation at the incidence of landacquisition due to infrastructural development.

Government Policies to Strengthen the Old AgeSecurity Te government of India and that of differentstates have taken initiative in the direction ofstrengthening old age security. Few of the policies

and schemes could be outlined as follows1. National Policy on Older Persons, 1999 Te policy, by central government, is based on

the principle of enabling old age security. Tepolicy adheres to inter sectoral collaborationand cooperation between government, privateand NGO sector. Te policy works in theeld of income, health, housing, sanitation,education, etc.

2. National Old Age Pension Scheme, 1995 Tis is a scheme where a elder of 65 years or

more is provided with a monthly pension. Te


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eligibility for the scheme is 65 years of age anda condition of destitute. Te amount was xedat Rs 75, which has been revised to Rs 200.Besides, different states have their own old agepension scheme, which ranges from Rs 300 in

West Bengal to Rs 75 in Assam. 3. Annapurna Scheme Tis is a recently launched in kind assistance

programme by the central government. According to this scheme 10 kg of wheat orrice is provided to destitute elders who are notbeen covered by NOAPS and whose son arenot residing with them.

4. Insurance Schemes wo important insurance schemes have

been implemented through Life Insurance

Corporation of India-i. Jeevan Dhara-Tis is a pension schemefor artists, cine artists, self employed,businessmen, professionals. Tese are thepeople who loose their earning after theycease to work, as they are not covered bythe pension schemes offered to the centralor state government employees.

ii. Jeevan Akshay- Tis provides life longpension and lump sum death benets.Tis scheme also provides surviving

benets after 7 years.5. National Policy on Senior Citizens, 2011 Tis is a draft submitted to the union Ministry

for social justice and empowerment. Tisdraft outlines the ways by which economicdependency can be minimized through-old agepension scheme, Public Distribution Scheme(PDS), tax concession, etc. It also talks ofimplementing Indira Gandhi National Old

Age Pension Scheme (IGNOAPS) for theoldest old, for which in case of disability, loss

of adult children and responsibility for grandchildren and women, they would be provided with additional pension (from Rs 200 toRs 500). Tere is also a provision forincreasing the pension to Rs 1000 per monthper person.

6. In a fresh endeavour to strengthen the Old AgeEconomic Security,the central government hasplanned for an asset-based programme in July2011. According to the scheme a person isneeded to pay Rs 500 as a monthly deposit.

He/she would get back the money in lump

sum amount. Te half of the money wouldbe invested in the nancial market under theregulation of Pension Fund Regulatory andDevelopment Authority (PFRDA). PFRDAhas appointed six fund managers to manage

the funds at minimum charges. Te con of thescheme is that the government would chargetax on the income.

7. Keeping in mind the 433 million2 unorganizedsector workerscentral government has approvedRs 1000 crore as the initial fund to lookafter their need. Te Ministry of Labour andEmployment has been made the nodal agencyto look after the scheme implementation andproper functioning.

Conclusion According to a report 19.6% of Indias population would be above 60 years of age by 20503. Forthis, we should be equipped with necessary policyinterventions and social motivation strategy tocope with the issue. Endeavour should be madeto regard ageing as a process and not a stage orpoint of culmination. Ageing is not different inany form from the stage we get matured from ateenage to an adult. Te decentralisation and equaldistribution of the social security should be theagenda of the coming plan periods, besides, theprospect of engaging the elders in the workforceshould be looked after.

Te social motivation programmes should belaunched to propagate the benets of a joint andextended family and also to make people realisethat elders are not burdens. Te familial set up,

where the head is always the eldest person of thehousehold should be infused in the society throughproper propaganda and publicity.

Women and destitute must be rehabilitated byexpanding the network of NGOs and introducingPublic- Private Partnership (PPP) in the eld.Government and policy makers should try todeviate a bit from the issue of population growthto issues of population structure.

Above all, aged are the person who are notonly aged in physiological terms but also agedin terms of their experience of the world. Telegacy of our fore fathers are passed onto throughthem. Our elders are more of an asset than

liabilities.


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References1. Bino Paul, G.D. (2008): India Labour Market

Report , Adeeco Institute and ata Institute ofSocial sciences.

2. Census of India, 2001, Office of the Registrar

General of India.3. Central Statistics Office (2011): Situation Analysis of the elderly in India , Ministry ofstatistics and programme implementation,Government of India.

4. Chakraborti, R. D. (2004): Te Greying ofIndia: Population ageing in the context of Asia ,Sage Publications.

5. Chanana, H.B. and alwar, P.P. (1987): Aging in India: Its socio-economic and healthimplications , Asia-Pacic Population Journal,

Vol.2, No.3.6. James, K.S. (1994): Indian elderly: Asset orLiability, Economic and Political weekly,Vol.29, No.36, pp.2335-2339.

7. Johnson M. et al (2005): Age and Ageing: TeCambridge Handbook , Cambridge universitypress.

8. Mason A. (2006): Population Ageing andDemographic Dividends: the time to act is now ,

Asia-Pacic Journal, Vol.21, No.3.9. National Policy on Senior Citizens(2011): draft

submitted to the Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment, Government ofIndia.

10. Prakash, I. J. (1999): Ageing in India , Ageingand health programme, World HealthOrganisation.

11. Prasad, S (2011): Deprivation and Vulnerabilityamong Elderly in India , Indira Gandhi Institute

of Development research.12. Sanderson, W. C. and Scherbov, S. (2008):Rethinking age and Aging , Population Bulletin,Vol.63, No.4, Population Reference Bureau.

13. Sanderson, W. C. and Scherbov, S. (2010):Remeasuring Aging , Science. 329: 1287-1288.

14. Sharma, R. and Tomas, J. (2010): Ageism:Problems and Prospects , ICSSR-NERC.

Endnote1 Deccan Herald, 29th July, 2011

2 Deccan Herald, 29th July, 20113 World Social Security Report 2010/11:Providing coverage in times of crisis andbeyond, International Labour Office

Acknowledgement: I must acknowledge the platform provided by the Institute for Social andEconomic Change, Bangalore and UNFPA forcompleting this paper in the form of scholarship andinfrastructure. I am inspired and motivated by the

guidance of Prof. K.S. James, Head and Professor,Population Research Centre, ISEC, Bangalore.

Swasti Vardhan Mishra Project Assistant: Population Research Centre, Institute for Social and Economic Change, Bangalore in theproject, Building Knowledge Base on Ageing in India.

[email protected]

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The Elderly Dependents in India: A Critical Review