E-Paper
These states in India offer best quality of life for elderly
The study found out that Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Mizoram and Chandigarh are states which lead in the categories - aged states, relatively aged states, northeastern states and Union Territories.
The government on Wednesday released an index to measure the quality of life led by the elderly in India. The study was released by Bibek Debroy who is the chairman of the economic advisory committee of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The study carried out by the Institute for Competitiveness aims to reflect upon the problems faced by the elderly.
The study identifies the overall ageing situation of India and focuses on the regional patterns of ageing across states and Union Territories. The study found out that Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Mizoram and Chandigarh are states which lead in the categories - aged states, relatively aged states, northeastern states and Union Territories.
The framework of the index included four pillars: financial well-being, social well-being, health system and income security. It also included eight sub-pillars: economic empowerment, educational attainment and employment, social status, physical security, basic health, psychological well being, social security and enabling environment.
The study revealed that states and Union Territories have poorly performed in the income security parameter. The states scored below the national average of 33.03 in the case of income security. The financial well-being index also performed poorly (44.7) owing to the low performance of 21 states in the educational attainment and employment pillar.
It also highlighted that the highest average was scored by the health system pillar across India with a score of 66.97 followed by 62.34 in social well being.
Among all the states, Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh are top-scoring regions in the aged states and relatively aged states categories. Rajasthan has a score of 54.61 in the aged states category while Himachal Pradesh has a score of 61.04 in relatively aged states. Mizoram has a score of 59.79 among northeastern states while Chandigarh scored 63.78 among the Union Territories.
Jammu and Kashmir scored the lowest 46.16 among Union Territories. Arunachal Pradesh, among the northeastern states, scored the lowest score with 46.16. In the aged states and relatively aged states categories, Telangana and Gujarat scored the lowest with 38.19 and 49.00, respectively.
Debroy said that the nation faces an ageing and greying problem. “India is often portrayed as a young society, with a consequent demographic dividend. But, as with every country that goes through a fast process of demographic transition, India also has a greying and ageing problem. EAC-PM requested Dr Amit Kapoor and his team at Institute for Competitiveness to do a report on an issue that is often not mentioned which are problems faced by the elderly,” Debroy was quoted as saying in a release.
