Elderly Populations

TRANSCEND MEMBERS, 16 Dec 2024

Dr. Ravi P. Bhatia – TRANSCEND Media Service

9 Dec 2024 – India has a population of about 1.35 billion people which is the second highest in the world after the Chinese population of about 1.4 billion. If the present   Government‘ conditions continue we may exceed Chinese population by another year or so. and may equal 1.5 billion by 2030. What are some  measures India can take so that the population growth slows down?

One action is to provide suitable contraceptives to both urban and rural women. We should also invest more in peoples’ health — from about 1.4 % of our GDP to 2.5 % or more. We should also create situations that encourage women to get married later so that number of children per family, also  decrease. With these measures, our population would stabilise by about 2050.

An interesting aspect of population studies is the replacement level of 2.1 children to replace the two parents. This number is small because of general improvement of children’s health, as well as the fact that it is difficult to take care of children’s needs — health, education, skills etc. Fewer the number of children, easier it would be to take care of the basic needs of children.

As the health of people improves and number of children per family decreases, the percentage of older people (60 years or more) in the population rises.

It may be noted that in 2011 population of the elderly was about 104 million with their share in the total population being about 10%. Current trends of population suggest that elderly population would become 194 million by 2031 and keep increasing.

This has serious implications for the country’s economy and welfare.. Questions of employment facilities   for the elderly also become pertinent.

These include social security as well as overall health — physical, mental of elderly people. Another problem likely to occur is that of conflicts that may arise between this section of the population and the younger section. Many types of jobs that the younger population could be engaged in, would now be denied to them because they could be shifted to the older people.

Having mentioned the disturbing trend of rise in population , the aging population or the elderly also forms the core strength of a family, the wisdom , the culture and the history . They are the important pillars of any society and carry on the legacy of their times, teaching the coming generations — knowledge , experiences , love, affection and so on.

A balance in growth of elderly population vs youngsters is the need of the hour so that we neither wipe off their existence nor un welcome the new generations.

To consider these and other issues,  October 1 has been declared as the  International Day of Older People .

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Dr Ravi P Bhatia is a member of the TRANSCEND Network for Peace Development Environment, an educationist, Gandhian scholar and peace researcher. Retired professor, Delhi University. His new book, A Garland of Ideas—Gandhian, Religious, Educational, Environmental was published recently in Delhi. ravipbhatia@gmail.com

This article originally appeared on Transcend Media Service (TMS) on 16 Dec 2024.

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One Response to “Elderly Populations”

1. Suryanath Prasad says:

   17 Dec 2024 at 13:37

   To Be Young Is to Be Healthy Forever
   HEALTH
   Surya Nath Prasad – TRANSCEND Media Service, 31 May 2021
   https://www.transcend.org/tms/2021/05/to-be-young-is-to-be-healthy-forever/

   Reply