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National Policies and Programmes for
Elderly in India: A Literature Review

-Parvathy N. & Sriram Divi

A grey, owing to population

bstract-The in the world slowly turning
the process of ageing. Technologically
advanced countries have developed their policies to tackle the
concerns related to ageing. Developing countries need to have
a strong policy framework for elderly care in their countries.
The problems related toageing are a global concern that needs
to be tackled by individual countries through their policies
and programs for the elderly. The policies should be based on
providing social security, economic support, and essential
services including health care fairly well to the elderly.

The paper aims to summarize the available pieces of evidence

on initiatives and implementation of geriatric health programs
in India and compare them with the existing policy initiatives.
The paper also aims at identifying the research gaps and areas
for future research.

An extensive literature review was carried out on both published

material and grey literature related to policies related to the
elderly in India and other countries. The final analysis was
carried out only on the articles related to policies from India.

Through policies and programs, governments are trying to ease

the economic burden of the elderly through different types of
pensions, however, they are not adequate. Given the larger
population, it is impossible for government only to provide
sociological support to the elderly.

There is a need to develop its own cost-effective and culturally

appropriate approach solution to addressing the health and care
needs of the elderly. It would necessarily be a more community-
centered approach where care is provided in synergy with family
GNLU Journal of Law, Development and Politics 11 Vol. 11 11 Issue 2 11 Oct. 2021

support, with a greater role for community-level caregivers with

good continuity of care with higher levels.

INTRODUCTION

Ageing has slowly become one of the major causes of concern in the cur-
rent world. The developments in the field of medicine and improvements
in the quality of life have increased human longevity. Since the beginning
of recorded history, young children have outnumbered their elders. It is
estimated that within five years, the proportion of the population aged
65+might outnumber the under-five population (Ritchie H, 201 9 ).WHO's
world health statistics report of 2019, states that the global life expectancy
at birth increased by 5.5 years, from 66.5 to 72.0 years between 2000 and
2016 (WHO, 2019). Given the falling fertility rates and increase in life expec-
tancy, population ageing will continue, even accelerate in coming decades.
The developed world is experiencing a fast demographic transition
which explains the fast decline in fertility rates, decline in mortality rates,
increased life expectancy at birth and older ages, shift in leading causes
of death and illness from infectious and parasitic diseases to non-commu-
nicable diseases, and chronic conditions (Dodge, 2008). This demographic
change is a welcoming one, however, the low and middle-income countries
face several challenges in this respect. The healthcare systems are mainly
equipped for the prevention of infectious diseases, not chronic illnesses.
The WHO re-classified the age group for the elderly as young old (60-
70 years), middle-old (70-84 years), and Oldest-old (85+), with an increase in
the life expectancy. As per the joint report by UNFPA and HelpAge interna-
tional "Elderly themselves are ageing, with the size of the "oldest old" population
(aged 85 and over) increasingfaster than that of the older population as a whole.
The number of centenariansin the world is projected to increasefrom fewer than
316,6oo in 2011 to 3.2 million in 2050" (UNFPA, 2012)
The care of the aged is assuming greater importance with the overall
increase in longevity, particularly in the developed countries, where the
senior citizens are at least measurably protected through social insurance
schemes and receive institutional care on a larger scale. It's well established
that most of the developed countries have organized systems that provide
 National Policies and Programmes for Elderly in India

facilities like social security pensions, old-age assistance, institutional-

based care, and homes for the aged. However, this is not the case with
developing countries, where the government machinery is not able to pro-
vide insurance or any other pension benefits for the elderly.

Continent Asia, which houses more than 50% of the world's popu-
lation of which 9.4% of its population is 6o and older, and shifting in
demographics will result in a greater number of those aged 6o and older
compared to those aged 14 years and below by 2035. Asia will be particu-
larly affected by the greater burden of chronic disease as its population
of older people will account for ½ of all older people in the world by 2025
(United Nations, 2002).

Ageing in India

India's older population will increase dramatically over the next four dec-
ades. The share of India's population ages 6o and older is projected to climb
from 8 percent in 2010 to 19 percent in 2050 (UN 2011). As per the 2011
census India accounts for 104 million elderly people, of which the share
of female elderly is 53 million. The proportion of the elderly in the total
population is 8.9%. 29 million of India's elderly are above 70 years and 11
million are above 8o (RGI, 2011). In terms of the proportion of elderly in the
population, the low fertility state of Kerala ranks number one with 12% of
its population comprising of the elderly in 2011 (RGI, 2011).

The problems related to ageing are a global concern that needs to be

tackled by individual countries through their policies and programmes for
the elderly. The policies should be based on providing social security, eco-
nomic support, and essential services including health care fairly well to
the elderly.

OBJECTIVE
Ageing will soon become an important concern in India, which has
remained a neglected aspect in health policy research. Many empirical
studies on the elderly primarily discuss the trends, patterns, and differen-
tials in aging cross-classified by social, economic, and demographic charac-
teristics, also the problems faced by elderly living in an old age home. The
present paper aims to summarize the available evidence on initiatives and
implementation of geriatric health programs in India and compare it with
4 GNLU Journal of Law, Development and Politics 11 Vol. 11 11 Issue 2 11 Oct. 2021

the existing policy initiatives and also identify the research gaps and areas
for future research.

METHODOLOGY

The literature search was carried out focused on accessing both published
material and grey literature that related to the topics and issues that were
identified. The present paper has been restricted to studies in components
of old age policies in India. The review is distributed as per the six domains
as suggested in the "Healthy aging framework" devised by Judith F et.al
in 2013. The six domains include Economic, physical, social, biological, cul-
tural, and gender. A framework is given in Fig 1. These six domains are
considered to be preconditions for independent living but hardly meet the
requirements for a valid definition. The paper tries to take each domain
and analyze how these fit into the national policy. These six determinants
are further divided into the quality of life, longevity, autonomy in the activ-
ity of daily living, chronic illness, disability, cognitive functional status,
social participation, behavioral factors. When all these components should
gel with each other perfectly one can say the elderly are having a healthy
ageing (Judit F. et. al, 2013).

Fig 1. Components of Healthy Ageing

Source: (Judit F. et. al, 2013)

 National Policies and Programmes for Elderly in India

ANALYSIS

India's draft national policy for the elderly was announced in the year 1999,
which was coined as "The National Policy on Older Persons (NPOP)". The
policy was drafted following the UN General Assembly Resolution 47/5
to observe 1999 as the International Year of Older Persons and in keep-
ing with the assurances to older persons contained in the Constitution.
During the various steps of implementation, the government constituted
an inter-ministerial committee of 22 ministries, various committees from
state governments, and a national council for older persons (NCOP). NCOP
was re-constituted in 2005, with representatives from central government,
state government, NGOs, lawyers, retired person's association, etc.
India's national policy for the elderly was formulated in 1999 which
aimed to provide guidelines for primary and emergency health care ser-
vices to the elderly. Along with this, the government also decided to develop
research related to geriatrics and gerontology. In 2011 when the policy was
revised government approved the constitution of the national council for
senior citizens as envisaged in the national policy. The council will advise
the government in policies, programs, legislative measures, health and
welfare of senior citizens. The introduction of legislative measures was
mainly due to elderly abuse and neglect. Various schemes and programs
were added to the five-year plans to address the needs of the elderly.
In 2010, sub-committees were created to review the issues of the
elderly in the four major domains namely social, safety and security, health
care, and gender. The policy and plans were put in place by central and
state governments for the welfare of older persons. Apart from the national
old-age policy, various state governments also issued their policies and
programmes for the welfare of older persons. The five Indian states, viz.
Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh, and Punjab imple-
mented their policies. The remaining states though do not have separate
policies but are following the national policy guidelines. The different poli-
cies and programmes for the elderly designed by the national government
are given in table 1.
1 GNLU Journal of Law, Development and Politics 11 Vol. 11 11 Issue 2 11 Oct. 2021

Table 1: Programmes and policies for elderly

Programme Legal Coverage Effective Coverage

National Policy for The policy envisaged State support to ensure
Older Persons, 1999 financial and food security, health care, shelter,
and other needs of older persons, equitable
share in the development, protection against
abuse and exploitation, and availability of
services to improve the quality of life
Maintenance and Maintenance of Parents/ senior citizens by The Act has been notified by all
Welfare of Parents and children/ relatives made obligatory and states and UTs the act does not apply
Senior Citizens Act, justiciable through tribunals. Revocation of to the state of Jammu & Kashmir and
2007 transfer of property by senior citizens in case the state of Himachal Pradesh has its
of neglect by relatives' Penal provision for act for the Senior Citizens
abandonment of senior citizens Establishment
of Old Age Homes for Indigent Senior Citizens
Adequate medical facilities for the Senior
Citizens
Central Sector Financial assistance up to 90% of the project From the year 2013 to 2015 a total
Scheme of Integrated cost is provided to Government and NGOs, of 885 projects has been assisted,
Programme for Older Panchayati Raj Institutions /local bodies for 629 NGOs have been assisted and
Persons (IPOP) (1992) establishing and maintaining old age, mobile an amount of 34.38 crores has been
care units, and day-carecanter spent.
National Council for Set up under the provision of the National Policy Notified during 2016
Senior Citizens Advice the government on policies
Feedback on the implementation of the NPOP
Nodal point for addressing grievances
Awareness generation
The Unorganized Provide formulation of schemes by the
Worker's Social Central Government for different sections of
Security Act, 2008 unorganized workers on matters relating
Life and disability
Health and maternity benefits
Old age protection
Atal Pension Yojana The poor and underprivileged in the
Scheme, 2015 unorganized sector who join the National
Pension System shall be provided with a
defined pension depending on the contribution
and its period
Rashtriya Swasthya Launched by the Ministry of Labour and 21 states have advertised the
Bima Yojana, 2008 Employment to provide health insurance scheme. 47,97,688 smart cards have
coverage for Below Poverty Line families been issued till 29.05.2009

Source: (GOI, 2016)

The table above summarizes the policy initiatives taken by the

national government for the welfare of the elderly in the country. Taking a
 National Policies and Programmes for Elderly in India

cue from the policy, an integrated program for older persons was launched
to improve the quality of life of the elderly. It came up with ideas such
as respite care homes, multi-service centres, and mobile medical care.
Unfortunately, a majority of the ideas suggested remained only on paper.

Economic determinants of healthy ageing

Financial insecurity is one of the great anxieties in old age. The national
government in its policy ensures that the vulnerable elderly should be pro-
vided with a monthly pension of Rs 1500. Along with the government sup-
port many non-governmental organizations are also providing help to the
elderly by providing career guidance, support services, etc. Banks are also
helping by starting reverse mortgage schemes which could provide some
financial support for the elderly. Gender plays a major role in later years of
life, women elderly who outnumber male occupies a major proportion are
more vulnerable in society. Delayed widow pensions, having no support
mechanisms makes the life of the older women miserable.

Goli S et al, 2014 carried out a decomposition analysis on the second-

ary data from the national sample survey. The study tried to measure the
effect of socio-economic inequities on the health status of the elderly. The
results showed that that poor health status is more concentrated among the
socio economically disadvantaged older population. Decomposition analy-
ses revealed that poor economic status (54 %) is the dominant contributor
to total health inequalities in the older population, followed by illiteracy(24
%) and rural place of residence (20 %)(Goli S, 2014).
Vijayakumar, 2013 explains that the "basic concept of social security is
not new in India. In India, some sort of moral economy existed to provide secu-
rity to older destitute and other vulnerable groups in society. However, gradu-
ally, traditionalsupport systems are disappearing, and state-based social security
systems have come into existence. Under standardizedeconomic security policies,
the government is covering retirement benefits for those in the organized sector;
economic security benefits for those in the unorganized sector; and old-age pension
for rural elderly. These are contributory as well as non-contributory programs.
However, in terms of coverage, program quality and effectiveness have been largely
criticized by social security experts, suggesting immediate reforms to old-age
programs"(Vijayakumar, 2003).
2 GNLU Journal of Law, Development and Politics 11 Vol. 11 11 Issue 2 11 Oct. 2021

Biological dimensions

About 65% of the elderly population in India seek help from others for
their day-to-day routine. The reason behind such dependency is that about
72% of the elderly men and 65% of the elderly females aged 8o years and
above are immobile. It is also important to note that of this 72%, only 20%
of the elderly men and half of the elderly women live with their children
(Jeyalakshmi, S., Chakrabarti, S., & Gupta, N. , 2011). Lack of social sup-
port, depression, chronic diseases, accidental falls, and poor health were all
found to be significantly high for the elderly who lived alone. Health care
cost is also increasing in leaps and bounds(Mouodi, S., Bijani, A., Hosseini,
S. R., &Hajian-Tilaki, K., 2016). Moreover, the elderly generally suffer from
chronic diseases, thus, providing complete care to such an increasing num-
ber of elderly especially those who are chronically ill at an affordable cost,
remains to be a key challenge (WIPRO, 2012).

Looking at the mobility issues, chronic illnesses, lack of support sys-

tem government in the 2011 policy suggested promoting the concept of
"Ageing in Place" or aging in own home, housing, income security and
homecare services, old-age pension, and access to healthcare insurance
schemes and other programs and services to facilitate and sustain dignity
in old age. The thrust of the policy would be preventive rather than cure
(Government of India, 2011).

With the advent of antibiotics and other lifesaving drugs, life expec-
tancy has increased. However, this doesn't always ensure the autonomy of
the elderly. The policy recognizes that with the advancement of age, the
elderly have to cope with health and associated problems some of which
may be chronic, of a multiple nature, which may require constant attention
and carry the risk of disability and consequent loss of autonomy. Some
health problems, especially when accompanied by impaired functional
capacity require long-term management of illness and nursing care (NIRD,
Undated).

Gender Dimension

The old-age dependency ratio shows an increasing trend and the ratio has
risen from 10.9% in 1961 to 14.2% in 2011. The gap between female and male
old-age dependency ratio also has an increasing trend and the two assumed
the values 14.9 and 13.6 respectively in 2011 ((RGI, 2011). In India by 2050,
 National Policies and Programmes for Elderly in India

life expectancy for males is projected to be 71.8 years and for females 75.7
years if the current demographic conditions persist. By that year, the num-
ber of older women will exceed the number of older men by 18.4 million
(Subaiya, 2014). The proportion of total female elderly in India is 8.4% of the
total population compared to 7.7% of male elderly. Off this female elderly
are more likely to be widowed, poor, and suffer vulnerability to adverse
outcomes like poor health.
In 2011, UNFPA carried out a collaborative project named "Building
Knowledge Base on Population Ageing in India" with inputs from the
Institute for Social and Economic Change in Bangalore, the Institute of
Economic Growth in Delhi, and the Tata Institute of Social Sciences in
Mumbai in seven states in India. The results from the projects showed
that older women have much less asset ownership compared to older men
whether it is inherited or self-acquired. The proportion of older women
reporting no personal income and no social pension is high across all sur-
vey states. This suggests that social pensions have not reached those in
need (Giridhar G, 2014).

Social dimension

Victor C in his chapter on the sociological perspective of ageing illustrates

the approaches in sociology to understand ageing. While looking from the
sociological perspective, how concerns of ageing vary at the individual,
social and societal. The individual level, micro-level look at the experiences
by an individual through the life course. The social approach of ageing
examines how elderly people are highly dependent on the social environ-
ment in which the elderly as individuals live. The societal approach of
aging is concerned with demographic, structural, cultural, and economic
transformations increasing the proportion of elderly in society. The term
tries to understand how society is ready to respond to the needs of the
elderly, how are they planning to cater to the needs, etc (Victor, 2005).
A community-based study done by Mohapatra T in Orissa from April
to July 2010, shows that the traditional joint family system is changing over
the years. The study used a structured interview schedule to collect the
information on their socio-economic background, factors affecting the care
and the support for the aged in the families, and the perceptions of the aged
regarding the care and support they are getting from their family mem-
bers, their views regarding main problems in old age. The main objective
4 GNLU Journal of Law, Development and Politics 11 Vol. 11 11 Issue 2 11 Oct. 2021

of this paper was to understand the support provided by the family to the
elderly and understand what are changes happening in the mental health
of the elderly. The study found out that 60% of uneducated, around 38%
has<Rs 5,000 as monthly income, feel neglected, and were considered as a
burden (Mohapatra, 2012).

Safety and security

The cases of abuse against the elderly are rising across India. The elderly
are victims of abuse and isolation mostly in the hands of family members,
neighbour's, and domestic servants. The national policy envisages the
need to develop systems to reduce abuse against the elderly. Though some
studies throw light on elderly abuse, most of these cases go unreported.
Recently the abuse against the elderly is becoming a news item in many
newspapers and also on social platforms.

Content analysis done by Mishra and Patel in 2013, looks into the
factors causing fear of crime among the elderly and explores the different
types of crime which are raising the fear of crime. The study used sec-
ondary data collected from different newspapers. News items on crimes
against the elderly have been systematically collected and their content has
been analysed. The findings show that there are various factors such as res-
idential location, previous victimization experience, vulnerability, defensi-
bility, and incivility that cause fear of crime in the minds of the elders in
India. The study suggests that there is a need for community support and
effective policing which can reduce fear among the elderly (Mishra A, Patel
A, 2013).

A study done by Govil P and Gupta S in 2016, on elderly abuse in dif-

ferent states in India, shows that about 50% of the elders have experienced
some abuse personally, while 83% of them reported that abuse is prevalent
in the society. The study used data from a survey done by Help age India in
different states in India during 2014 and 2015. Looking at age-wise propor-
tion 72% of the abused are young-old (60-69), 25% of them are old (70 - 79),
and only 3% of them very old (80+). The main reason for abuse includes
property, high longevity, lack of adjustments, etc. The study proposes the
need to have social accountability towards the elderly, as government can-
not provide all services. The study mentions that with the introduction of
social security pensions, the elderly can have some financial independence,
however with the minimal amount the elderly will not be able to meet their
 National Policies and Programmes for Elderly in India

expenditures for their illness and other necessary services (Govil, P. and
Gupta, S, 2016).
A meta-analysis carried out by Yon et al. 2017, shows that abuse
against the elderly is a universal phenomenon. Most of these studies are
from the industrialized world, and very few studies are been done in Asian
and African countries. A study found out that "If the proportion of elder
abuse victims remains constant, the number of victims will increase rap-
idly due to population ageing, 330 million victims by 2050" (Yon Y, et.al.,
2017).

Health

Many studies have been carried out in India which identify the health
problems of the elderly. There exists a great difference in the health of rural
and urban elderly. Rural elderly is tending to be highly marginalized as
better-quality health care services are more concentrated in urban areas
and, still to achieve in rural areas even for the general population. Also
due to the lack of social reforms for older widows in rural India and a long
period of social negligence, older widows are most likely to perceive their
ill-health condition as God-gifted. The common morbidities of the elderly
include joint pain, cataract, non-communicable disease, etc.
A study on palliative care homes in West Bengal was carried out by
Bhattacharya et.al in 2017 to assess end-of-life care of the elderly in private
homes. Primary data was collected using semi-structured interviews and
observation at private nursing homes. Results of the study showed that
most of these private nursing homes do not have adequate infrastructure, a
paucity of skilled caregivers, etc. Also, there are instances of abuse against
the elderly in these homes. The authors point out that these issues are hap-
pening mainly because of the lack of systematic palliative programs in the
state. As per the policy each district should have geriatric care centre's at
the district hospital level, but it is not followed strictly (Bhattacharya T,
et.al., 2017).
Agarwal S did a study on the effect of living arrangements on elderly
health status by analysing the data from India's second National Family
Health Survey. A study found that the elderly who are living alone are
likely to suffer more from chronic illness than those who are staying with
their family. The findings from the study point out that the policy should
GNLU Journal of Law, Development and Politics 11 Vol. 11 11 Issue 2 11 Oct. 2021

implement public support systems and health care for the elderly who are
living alone (Agarwal, 2012).

DISCUSSION

The studies presented here though are not directly related to the national
policy on ageing, but their findings show the need to look at the policy
from a new dimension. Through policies and programs, governments are
trying to ease the economic burden of the elderly through different types
of pensions, however, they are not adequate. Given the larger population,
it is impossible for government only to provide sociological support to the
elderly.
The national policy for the elderly aimed to develop to understand the
problems of the elderly, however was not able to deliver its objectives fully
due to various factors. One of the main reasons is India is the second-larg-
est populated country in the world, the policies, and programs developed
for its population will take their course of time. Secondly, as the programs
are being handled by different ministries the coordination between them
is a challenge. Also, there is a need for evaluating the policy periodically so
that amendments could be made, which has not been done systematically.
Most of the developed countries have a system of professional caregivers
for the elderly, which is not developed in India fully. Some states have pal-
liative care centres, recreational clubs, and other geriatric care units, which
are run mostly by NGOs or other charitable organizations. However, many
such centres may not be registered due to this monitoring their activities
are not always possible. As the government could not handle services for
the elderly alone, it could enter a public-private partnership with private
providers, NGOs, and other organizations so that geriatric services will
run smoothly.

The life expectancy of women elderly is comparatively more than

male elderly. Most old women are either widowed living with their families
or in isolation. The crime against elderly women is increasing day by day.
Many developed and developing countries are performing better
compared to India. Examples of Norway, England, and Cuba suggest that
to provide effective health care services to the elderly as they have an effec-
tive national policy and also which is well documented.
 National Policies and Programmes for Elderly in India

CONCLUSION

Older people are particularly vulnerable to multidimensional poverty,

ill-health, and social exclusion, especially in the context of diminishing
employment opportunities and barely any social service and security pro-
vision in many of the Asian developing and transitional countries. Elderly
people living in absolute poverty are a considerable challenge for many
countries in Asia. There is a need to reform social security arrangements
particularly pension reforms which are fairer and sustainable for longer
life expectancy and the provision of basic minimum living standards in
old age, especially as very limited state welfare systems are in place for the
elderly.
Despite significant progress in the development and implementation
of policies and programs focusing on older persons in India, there is still
work to be done in mainstreaming ageing into relevant policy domains. Age
discrimination, limited access to health care, poverty, and lack of income
security in old age persist. One of the key conclusions of this review is that
while formulating the policy government should promote the inclusion of
older persons in the development process, to protect their human rights,
including rights to health and income security

India would need to develop its own cost-effective and culturally

appropriate approach solution to addressing the health and care needs of
the elderly. It would necessarily be a more community-centred approach
where care is provided in synergy with family support, with a greater role
for community-level caregivers with good continuity of care with higher
levels. A closely related concern is the growing need for palliative care
where in life-threatening illness or end-of-life contexts there are active
measures to relieve pain and suffering and provide support to the patient
and the family. Increasing access to palliative care would be an important
objective, and in this like for all geriatric illnesses, continuity of care across
levels will play a major role.

The policies should be based on principles or concepts as agreed in

the Madrid declaration. On developing policies, it should be kept in mind
that States and regions differ in their values and traditions.
8 GNLU Journal of Law, Development and Politics 11 Vol. 11 11 Issue 2 11 Oct. 2021

Limitations of the paper

Efforts have been made to include as much relevant literature as possible

and to incorporate current literature in the review. The list may not be an
exhaustive one.

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PARVATHY N is PhD scholar, Department of Public Policy

and Administration, School of Liberal studies, Pandit
Deendayal Energy University, Gandhinagr, Gujarat,
e-mail: [email protected].

SRIRAM DIvi is Associate Professor, Department of

Public Policy and Administration, School of Liberal
Studies, Pandit Deendayal Energy University, Gandhinagr,
Gujarat, e-mail: [email protected].