The document summarizes India's national policies for the elderly, including the key challenges of a rapidly aging population. The National Policy on Older Persons (NPOP) aims to improve quality of life for seniors through income security, healthcare, shelter, education and welfare programs. The policy is implemented through various ministries and schemes that provide pensions, healthcare, housing assistance, and support for vulnerable groups. Recent initiatives expand insurance, pension and assistance programs to further support India's growing elderly population.

1. National Policies for
Elderly in India
Mrs. V. Indumathy
Tutor, VMMC & SJH

2. WORLD IS GETTING OLDER

3. INDIA: Phase of Demographic
Transition
 In a new report, the United Nations
Population Fund has said the population of
elderly people in India will triple by 2050.
 The percentage of elderly people,
classified as those above 60 years of age,
is expected to go up in India from 8% in
2015 to 19 % in 2050.

4. • The country now faces the major challenge of how to
take care of such a large population of senior citizens
– whose number is set to grow three-fold from around
103 million at present to 300 million by 2050.
• This challenge has been highlighted in a report released
by UN Population fund India titled ‘Caring for our elders:
Early response India Ageing Report 2017’.
• The report observes that the section that deserves
maximum attention remains old women, who are more
vulnerable than men due to their longer life
expectancy and no income.

5.  The report has flagged some key concerns and mapped
possible policy responses from the government and civil
society.
The report also noted that between 2000 and 2050, the
population of 80-plus people would have grown 700% “with
a predominance of widowed and highly dependent very
old women” and so “the special needs of such oldest
old women would need significant focus of policy and
programmes”.

6. NATIONAL POLICY ON OLDER
PERSONS (NPOP) 1999:
The NPOP in India has been formulated as a
forward-looking vision of the government for
improving quality of life of older people in India
through
i) increased income security,
ii) health and nutrition,
iii) shelter,
iv) education, empowerment and welfare.

7. GOAL OF NATIONAL POLICY
 Well being of older persons by
strengthening their legitimate place in
society and help to live their life with
purpose, dignity and peace.

8. OBJECTIVES OF POLICY
1. To encourage individuals to make various provisions
such as health and social insurance for their own as
well as their spouse’s old age;
2. To encourage families to take care of their older family
members.
3. To enable and support voluntary and nongovernmental
organisations to supplement the care provided by the
family, with greater emphasis on non institutional care;
4. To provide care and protection to the vulnerable elder
especially widows, frail, physically challenged, abused
and destitute elderly;

9. Contd……..
5. To provide health care facilities specially suited to
elderly
6. To promote research and training to train geriatric
care givers and organisers of services for the elderly;
7. To continually evaluate and upgrade existing services
and programs for older people;
8. To facilitate and strengthen inter sectoral
partnerships in the field; and
9. To create awareness regarding elder persons to
develop themselves into fully independent citizens.

10. ELEMENTS OF NPOP POLICY
1. Financial Security:
 Pension scheme (in public and private sector)
 Lower income tax rate and exemptions
2. Health care and Nutrition:
 Setting up Geriatric wards and training on
Geriatric Specialized care
 Expanding Mental Health Services for elderly

11. 3. Shelter:
 Government and Private Housing Schemes for
elderly
 Disposal of cases relating to property
transfer, mutation of property and tax.
4. Education:
 Information to elderly about Concept of
wellness in old age
 Evolving changes in lifestyle and living style.

12. 5. Welfare :
 Identifying extremely vulnerable elderly who
are disabled, chronically sick and destitute.
 Assistance to voluntary organisations to
construct and maintain old age homes, day
care centre, multi-service citizens centres,
supply of disability-related aids and appliances
 Providing welfare funds for elderly with
support from corporate sector, trusts,
charities, individual donors and involvement
of NGOs.

13. 6. Research and Training:
 Encourage medical colleges, training
institutions for Nurses and Para medical
institutes to introduce COURSES ON GERIATRIC
CARE.
 Research and documentation in elderly care
 NGO supported specialized training in
Geriatric care.
7. Sensitizing the Media:
 Involvement of social medias and internet to
create awareness

14. INTER-MINISTERIAL CONTRIBUTIONS
TO NPOP:
NPOP implementation across several ministries
of the government lies with the nodal Ministry
of Social Justice and Empowerment (MOSJE).
MOSJE pulled together various elements of NPOP
under the National Initiative on Care of Elderly
(NICE).

15. List of Ministries/ Department of The Inter-Ministerial
Committee Implementing Indian National Policies On
Older Persons
1. Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment
2. Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
3. Ministry of Finance
4. Ministry of Rural Development and Employment
5. Ministry of Urban Affairs and Employment
6. Ministry of Human Resource Development
7. Ministry of Labour
8. Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions
9. Ministry of Law Justice and Company Affairs
10. Ministry of Home Affairs
11. Ministry of Information and Broadcasting
12. Ministry of Communication
13. Ministry of Railways
14. Ministry of Agriculture
15. Ministry of Surface Transport
16. Ministry of Civil Aviation
17. Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas
18. Ministry of Food and Consumer Affairs
19. Ministry of External Affairs

16. 4 ministries may be considered core as they are responsible for a
large and important chunk of services to older persons.
These are:
1. Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment (MOSJE) is
responsible for coordination across ministries and also for
implementing the central sector IPOP with the objective of
improving the quality of life of senior citizens by providing basic
amenities like shelter, food, medical care and entertainment
activities and by encouraging productive and active ageing.
2. Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MOHFW) is
responsible for implementing the National Programme for
Health Care of Elderly (NPHCE) through primary, secondary and
tertiary services, dedicated for older persons.

17. 3. Ministry of Rural Development (MORD)
administers the National Social Assistance Programme
(NSAP) under which old-age pensions and family
benefits are provided to BPL families.
4. Ministry of Panchayati Raj (MOPR) is responsible for
empowerment, enablement and accountability of
Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) to ensure inclusive
development with social justice and efficient delivery of
services and participatory self-governance. Under the
Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (SAGY), each Member of
Parliament has to adopt a Panchayat and work towards
convergence of various programmes to improve quality
of life in rural areas. When implemented, this scheme
will help rural elderly in many direct and indirect ways.

18. vision of the NPOP are covered as
(i)Maintenance and Welfare of Parent and Senior Citizens Act
2007: Parents and grandparents who are unable to maintain
themselves from their own income can demand maintenance from
their children, inclusive of food, clothing, residence, medical
attendance and treatment, to a maximum of 10,000 per month.₹
The Act provides for a tribunal to receive and take action on
complaints. In case the children themselves do not have sufficient
means to maintain them, the state governments are expected to
provide old-age homes in each district to accommodate a
minimum of 150 elderly. An important provision under the Act
legally empowers the elderly to claim their property back from
their children if the condition of maintenance is not satisfied

19. (ii) Integrated Programme for Older Persons (Revised 2016):
The IPOP (implemented since 1992) provides financial
assistance (up to 90 percent) to PRIs/local bodies, NGOs,
educational institutions, charitable hospitals/nursing homes
etc. for implementing a variety of facilities such as oldage
homes, mobile medical units for older persons living in rural
and isolated areas, day care centres, physiotherapy clinics,
provision of disability aids, running helplines and counselling
centres and sensitization of school and college students to
ageing issues.
(iii) National Programme for Health care of Elderly (NPHCE):
The health care programme for the elderly is being
implemented by the MOHFW from 2011 under the National
Rural Health Mission (NRHM).

21. Under National Health Mission Program (NHM) dedicated 10-
bedded wards at district hospitals, strengthening of the eight
regional medical institutes to provide dedicated tertiary-level
medical facilities for the elderly, introducing postgraduate
courses in Geriatric Medicine, and in-service training of health
personnel at all levels. Regional geriatric centres with dedicated
geriatric out-patients’ departments and 30-bedded geriatric
wards are planned with necessary equipment such as video
conferencing facility.
(iv) National Social Assistance Programme (1995):
1. National Old Age Pension Scheme(NOAPS): in 2007
renamed as Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pension
Scheme(IGNOAPS).

22. 2. The Annapurna Yojana got added to the National Family
Benefit Scheme in 2000. The Annapurna Yojana aims to provide
food security to meet the requirement of those senior citizens
who, though eligible, have remained outside the old-age pension
scheme. It provides 10 kg of free rice every month to each
beneficiary.
3. Subsequently in 2009, NSAP was expanded to include the Indira
Gandhi National Widow Pension Scheme (IGNWPS) covering
widows aged 40–64 years, and the Indira Gandhi National
Disability Pension Scheme (IGNDPS) for persons with multiple or
severe disabilities aged 18–64 years living below poverty line.

23. •In 2011, the age limit for IGNOAPS was lowered from 65 to 60
years and monthly pension amount for those 80 years and
above was increased from ₹ 200 to 500.₹
•Age limits for IGNWPS and IGNDPS were changed to 40–79
years and 18–79 years respectively and amount increased
from 200 to 300₹ ₹ per month.

24. After about a decade of
implementation of NPOP, the MOSJE set
up expert committee to prepare a
revised “National Policy for Senior
Citizens (NPSC) 2011.”

25. FOCUS OF NEW POLICY
NPSC mainly focus on:
1.Elderly women need special attention;
2.Rural poor need special attention;
3.Factoring the advancements in medical technology
and assistive into the revised policy.
Specially broad categories of intervention include
income security in old age, health care, safety and
security, housing, productive ageing, welfare,
multigenerational bonding, media and protection
during natural disasters and emergencies

26. This policy has resulted in the launch of new schemes
such as
1. Strengthening of primary health care system to enable it to meet the
health care needs of older persons
2. Training and orientation to medical and paramedical personnel in health
care of the elderly.
3. Promotion of the concept of healthy ageing.
4. Assistance to societies for production and distribution of material on
geriatric care.
5. Provision of separate queues and reservation of beds for elderly patients
in hospitals.
6. Extended coverage under the Antyodaya Scheme with emphasis on
provision of food at subsidized rates for the benefit of older persons
especially the destitute and marginalized sections.

27. Areas of Intervention in NPSC:
I. Income security in old age
II. Health care
III. Safety and Security
IV. Housing
V. Productive Ageing
VI. Welfare
VII. Multigenerational Bonding
VIII. Social Media

28. Implementation Mechanism:
1. Establishment of Department of Senior Citizens -
under MOSJE
2. Establishment of Directorates of Senior Citizens in
- State & Union Territories
3. Establishment of Commissions - under National &
State Level
4. Establishment of Council for Senior citizens
5. Responsibility of implementation – other Ministry
6. Role of BDO, PRI and Tribal Councils /Gram Sabhas

29. Recent Initiatives under NPOP
1. Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana:
2015 All savings bank account holders 18–70 years
old can join the scheme. It offers a coverage of
200,000 for death or total and irrevocable loss of both₹
eyes and 100,000 coverage for the loss of an eye or₹
a limb.

30. 2. Atal Pension Yojana:
The government started the Swavalamban Scheme in
2010/11 which was replaced by the Atal Pension Yojana
(APY) in June 2015 for those persons engaged in the
unorganized sector, who are not members of any
statutory social security scheme. The existing subscribers
of Swavalamban Scheme would be automatically
migrated to APY, unless they opt out.

31. 3. Health Insurance for Senior Citizen:
 Low premium life insurance (Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti
Bima Yojana)
 General insurance (Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana),
 The pension plan (Atal Pension Yojana). It is proposed to link
this to bank accounts of beneficiaries to directly transfer the
subsidy to the accounts. The government would subsidize the
premium for BPL elderly by up to 90 percent through direct
benefit transfer.

32. 4. Varistha Pension Bima Yojana (2017):
This scheme is a part of the government’s
commitment to financial inclusion and social security
during old age and to protect those aged 60 years
and above against a future fall in their interest
income due to uncertain market conditions. The
scheme will be implemented through LIC.

33. 5. Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana : Scheme for
providing Aids and Assisted Living Devices to
Senior Citizens below Poverty Line

34. 6. New Pension Scheme for Elderly:

35. 7. Senior Citizen Welfare Fund

36. 8. Establishment of South Asia Senior
Citizen Forum(SASCF)
A regional body called South Asia Senior
Citizens’ Working Group aims to work closely
with the respective governments, NGOs and
civil society members of the region in order to
improve the well-being of the ageing
population.

37. 9. National Portals for ELDERLY:

38. 10. AADHAR Based Digital Life
certificate for pensioners

42. CONCLUSION
 The policy should emphasise the need for
expansion of social and community services
for older persons, particularly vulnerable
women group to get accessible to the user
friendly client oriented services.
 Special efforts will be made to implement
the policy at the rural populations and
unorganized sectors where most of the older
population lives.