Handle age with care
Description
India does a poor job of caring for its elderly. Government can start by introducing a midday meal scheme. While the new government has spoken about taking policy measures to address the needs of India's young population, nearly 10 crore of the elderly — citizens above 60 years of age — are generally neglected in policymaking. The latest Census data report that 15 per cent of the elderly live alone, mainly because of the nuclearisation of the family. As longevity is increasing and women tend to live longer than men, the proportion of women staying alone is significantly large: three-fourths of the elderly, or about one crore of elderly women, live alone. In Tamil Nadu, one in 11 of those above 60 lives alone. This trend has disturbing implications for the nutrition and health of the elderly and should be a cause for concern. Read more at: https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/handle-age-with-care/
Copyright Date
October 2014
Publication Date
10-10-2014
Publication Title
The Indian Express
Publisher
The Indian Express [P] Ltd.
Keywords
Elderly care, Old age people, Nuclear family, Urbanisation, Food security
Source Link URL
https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/handle-age-with-care/
