Telangana State lags behind in caring elderly: Study

Hyderabad: Telangana could do more in supporting the well-being of their ageing populations, as per the findings in a report released on Wednesday by the Economic Advisory Council for the Prime Minister (EAC-PM). The report ‘Index on Quality of Life for Elderly’ said Telangana ranked 10th in the country with an overall score of 38.19 for the well-being of the elderly, compared to Andhra Pradesh in the eighth spot with a score of 44.37.

The report examined four main aspects of the pillars on which the index is based - financial, and social well-being, health system and income security, and eight sub-categories: economic empowerment, educational attainment & employment, social status, physical security, basic health, psychological wellbeing, social security and an enabling environment.

This index broadens the way we understand the needs and opportunities of the elderly population, and goes far beyond the adequacy of pensions and other forms of income support, which, though critical, often narrows policy thinking and debate about the needs of this age group.

Telangana, according to the report prepared by the Institute of Competitiveness for the EAC-PM, scored poorly on the overall quality of life for the elderly, along with other southern states of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.

On the health system front for the elderly, Telangana, the report said, had a significantly lower score that falls below the national average, while with respect to income security, the state’s score was poor, the report said.

The quality of life for the elderly in Telangana did not change much across rural and urban areas, the report indicated, saying urbanisation had a negative correlation with quality of life adding, “Some regions with high populations of older people in urban areas such as West Bengal, Telangana, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, have scored lower in the index rankings.”

The chairman of EAC-PM, Dr Bibek Debroy after releasing the report, said, “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 cum aging problem.”

According to Dr Amit Kapoor of IFC, “Without a proper diagnostic tool to understand the implications of its ageing population, planning for the elderly can become a challenge for policymakers. The Quality of Life for Elderly Index has been released to broaden the way we understand the needs and the opportunities of the elderly population in India. This index can thus help the nation identify areas that need improvement and also promotes healthy competition among states through fair rankings and highlights the pillars and indicators they can improve.”