{"id":44818,"date":"2025-06-05T21:24:36","date_gmt":"2025-06-05T15:54:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/?p=44818"},"modified":"2025-06-05T21:24:50","modified_gmt":"2025-06-05T15:54:50","slug":"government-to-bring-senior-citizens-new-national-policy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/05-06-2025\/government-to-bring-senior-citizens-new-national-policy","title":{"rendered":"Government to Bring New National Policy on Senior Citizens"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Syllabus: GS 1\/Social Justice&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>In News<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment is drafting a new national policy for senior citizens, considering India\u2019s changing demographics.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>More about the News<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The policy was discussed at the fourth meeting of the <strong>National Council for Senior Citizens.<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Other key topics included are digital inclusion, involving NGOs in policymaking, elder abuse grievance mechanisms, and setting standards for old age homes.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Senior citizens in India<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>According to <strong>Census 2011<\/strong>, India has approximately 103 million elderly citizens, accounting for<strong> 8.6 per cent of the population<\/strong>.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The government defines people aged 60 and above as \u201celderly\u201d.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>According to the government\u2019s projections, they will account for about <strong>12.16% of the country\u2019s population in 2026.<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Population projections estimate <strong>20% of the country<\/strong> will be senior citizens by 2047.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>This increased longevity is due to the<strong> availability of good healthcare services<\/strong> and <strong>accessibility to lifesaving drugs.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img data-dominant-color=\"cbcdd3\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"552\" height=\"528\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2025\/06\/challenges-faced-by-senior-citizen.png\" alt=\"challenges-faced-by-senior-citizen\" class=\"not-transparent wp-image-44819\" style=\"--dominant-color: #cbcdd3; width:392px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2025\/06\/challenges-faced-by-senior-citizen.png 552w, https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2025\/06\/challenges-faced-by-senior-citizen-300x287.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 552px) 100vw, 552px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Various Schemes\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>The Integrated Programme for Senior Citizens (IPSrC)<\/strong> provides grant-in-aid to NGOs for running senior citizen homes offering free shelter, food, healthcare, and entertainment.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Elderline<\/strong>: The National Helpline on Toll free number 14567 namely &#8216;Elderline&#8217; was launched\u00a0 in 2021 for grievance redressal of Senior Citizens and to generate awareness .<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana (RVY)<\/strong>: It is implemented by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, aims to support economically weaker senior citizens (with a monthly income of \u20b915,000 or less) who suffer from age-related disabilities or infirmities\u00a0 and\u00a0 provides free assistive devices.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Seniorcare Ageing Growth Engine(SAGE): <\/strong>It<strong> <\/strong>supports innovative startups to develop products and services for the elderly, while the <strong>Geriatric Caregiver Training Scheme<\/strong> aims to create a professional caregiving workforce.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Legal support is provided under the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007, which mandates maintenance by children\/relatives and penalizes abandonment or harassment.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Health needs are addressed through Ayushman Bharat-PMJAY,<\/strong> which offers free health coverage to all citizens aged 70+, and the National Programme for Healthcare of the Elderly (NPHCE), which ensures geriatric services from the primary to tertiary levels.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Conclusion and Way Forward\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>India&#8217;s aging population is growing rapidly, government initiatives play a crucial role in ensuring the welfare and dignity of senior citizens.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>As the nation moves forward, it is imperative to continue strengthening initiatives to provide a secure and respectful life for the elderly.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>India must adopt sensitive policies to address the economic, health, and social needs of the elderly.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Source: TH<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<h3><strong>In News<\/strong><\/h3>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">The Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment is drafting a new national policy for senior citizens, considering India\u2019s changing demographics.<\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Various Schemes\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">The Integrated Programme for Senior Citizens (IPSrC) provides grant-in-aid to NGOs for running senior citizen homes offering free shelter, food, healthcare, and entertainment.<\/li>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">Elderline: The National Helpline on Toll free number 14567 namely &#8216;Elderline&#8217; was launched\u00a0 in 2021 for grievance redressal of Senior Citizens and to generate awareness .<\/li>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana (RVY): It is implemented by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, aims to support economically weaker senior citizens (with a monthly income of \u20b915,000 or less) who suffer from age-related disabilities or infirmities\u00a0 and\u00a0 provides free assistive devices.<\/li>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">Seniorcare Ageing Growth Engine(SAGE): It supports innovative startups to develop products and services for the elderly, while the Geriatric Caregiver Training Scheme aims to create a professional caregiving workforce.<\/li>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/05-06-2025\/government-to-bring-senior-citizens-new-national-policy\" class=\"btn btn-primary btn-sm float-end\">Read\u00a0More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-44818","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-affairs"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44818","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44818"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44818\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44846,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44818\/revisions\/44846"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44818"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44818"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44818"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}