65% Indians out of the total population of 142 crores (1.42 billion) lives in rural areas, this translates to 92 crores (920 million).
Assuming the elderly population to be 11%, which means the rural elderly constitutes 10 crores (101 million) out of the total elderly population of 15.6 crores (156 million).
The larger point of debate is, are senior citizens just numbers in the larger landscape of India or they are seen as the future rather than the past?
Do we see elders as a spent force who are now obsolete or unproductive, or do we see them as people who made the foundation for the nation and will always remain the pillars of support.
47% of India’s population depends on agriculture, which means 4.7 crores (475 million) elders had contributed to ensure three square meals on our plates.
The estimated dementia prevalence for adults ages 60+ in India is 7.4%, which means about 1.1 crore (11.5 million) Indians older than 60 years live with dementia. This means 75 lakhs (7.5 million) elders in rural areas live with Dementia.
As per estimates 12% of the total population lives below the poverty line, which means 80 lakh (8 million) rural elders are extremely poor.
In a nutshell, 6 lakh (0.6 million) older people in the rural areas are poor and have dementia.
In my opinion, as a country we need to understand the gravity of the situation otherwise the rural poor older people especially women will be deprived of basic care and a dignified living.
Pankaj Mehrotra