Providing Services for Elderly in Rural India – Is Anganwadi Centres a feasible option?

The proportion of elderly defined as those above 60 years of age in Indiais increasing;from 7.4% of the overall population in 2011 it is expected to be over 10% in 2021, a projected increase from 76 million to approximately 140 million.¹Old age is the period of life when the physical ability wanes and morbidities are on a rise, therefore considered a vulnerable population. But the elderly have not received enough attention tilla policy “The National Policy on Older Persons (NPOP)” was announced by the government in 1999 and a programme,the National Programme for Health Care of the Elderly (NPHCE) was launched in 2010-11. The National Policy on Senior Citizens 2011 rightly recognizes the most vulnerable among the elderly that is the rural poor and the women.² In India, three-fourths of elderly are in the rural areas, the percentage share being 7.6 in rural compared to 7.2 in urban as per the NSSO 2007-08.¹ Poverty too is more acute a problem for rural elderly than the urban. Read more...