Context:

• UNFPA (United Nations Population Fund) India in collaboration with the International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS) presented the much awaited “India Aging Report 2023”.
• The report was jointly released by Saurabh Garg, Secretary, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment and Ms. Andrea M. Wojnar, UNFPA India Representative and Country Direct Bhutan.

 Key Points:

• By the end of the century, the elderly will constitute more than 36% of the country's total population.
• According to UNFPA's 'India Aging Report 2023', the share of elderly population (people aged 60 years and above) at the national level was 10.1 percent in 2021, which is expected to increase to 15 percent in 2036 and 20.8 percent in 2050. 
• By 2046, four years before the year 2050, the number of elderly people in India will exceed the population of children aged 0-14 years.
• By 2031, there will be 1078 women for every 1000 men in the population above 60 years of age.
• The report says that India's total population has increased by about 34 percent between 2000 and 2022.
• Since 2010, there has been a sharp increase in the elderly population along with a decline in the under-15 age group.

 Youngest state of India:

• Bihar is the youngest state in the country with 7.7% elderly population.

 Oldest states of India:

• Kerala is the oldest state with 16.5% population above 60 years of age.
• Tamil Nadu (13.7%) is the second oldest state, Himachal (13.1%) is the third, Punjab (12.6%) is the fourth and Andhra (12.3%) is the fifth oldest state.

 Reasons for increase in elderly population in India:

• Declining fertility (Fertility in the country has declined by 20 percent in a decade. For example, the country's gross fertility rate during 2008-10 was 86.1, which has declined to 68.7 during 2018 to 2020.)
• Reduction in mortality rate,
• Increase in survival etc.

 Socio-economic challenges due to increasing elderly population:

• There will also be a rapid increase in the number of people above 80 years of age, whose care will require huge investment.
• 70 percent of the population in the country is rural, when the number of elderly people increases, their number will be more in villages.
• There will be challenges for them like income, health, transportation.
• The number of dependents will increase etc.

 The way forward -

​Key findings of the report, including various analyses, include those related to the well-being of older people.

• Enhancement of geriatric care to meet the specific health care needs of senior citizens.
• A number of government schemes and policies address the health, financial empowerment and capacity building needs of the elderly population.
• Community-based organizations are actively engaged in digital empowerment through computer and internet access sessions.
• Formation of dedicated ministerial committees to shape policies for the welfare of the elderly.
• Corporate efforts for awareness campaigns on joyful ageing, social assistance, old age homes and elder abuse etc.

 Exam oriented Static facts

Provision for senior citizens in the Constitution

• Article 41 of the Indian Constitution states that the State shall take measures to protect the rights of the elderly according to its economic capacity. 

 United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA):

• It is a subsidiary organ of the United Nations General Assembly.
• Established- as a trust fund in the year 1967
• Officially named United Nations Population Fund in 1987
• The organization supports universal access to sexual and reproductive health services – including voluntary family planning, maternal health care and holistic sex education – while promoting reproductive rights.