Rajasthan, Mizoram, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh Offer Best Quality Of Life For Elderly

Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Mizoram and Chandigarh topped the list in the first national rankings on the Quality of Life for Elderly Index. This index was released on Wednesday, August 11, by Bibek Debroy, Chairman, Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM).

The report 'Index on Quality of Life for Elderly', prepared by the Institute for Competitiveness, has shown that, while Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh came on top categories – 'aged states' and 'relatively aged' states, respectively, Mizoram and Chandigarh did better among 'north-eastern sates' and 'union territories', respectively.

The aged states refers to states with an elderly population of more than 5 million. At the same time,Ageing relatively aged states refer to states with an elderly population of less than 5 million.

Among other things, the index identifies the regional patterns of ageing across states and assesses the overall ageing situation in India. The report presents an insight into how well India faring in terms of supporting the well-being of its ageing population.

The index framework includes four pillars namely financial well-being, social well-being, health system and income Security. It further includes eight sub-pillars: economic empowerment, educational attainment & employment, social status, physical security, basic health, psychological wellbeing, social security and an enabling environment.

Demographic Transition In India

Debroy 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 greying cum ageing problem. EAC-PM requested Dr Amit Kapoor and his team at Institute for Competitiveness to do a report on the issue that is often not mentioned- the problems faced by the elderly."

The report also reveals that states have performed particularly worse in the income security pillar because over half of the states have a score below the national average, i.e., 33.03 in income security, which is the lowest across all pillars.

Score Of Various States

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.

While Jammu and Kashmir scored the lowest 46.16 among Union Territories, Arunachal Pradesh scored the lowest score among the northeastern states 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.

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