Aged Care in India is finally shedding its skin which was typically associated with Old Age Homes for destitute, Vridh Ashrams for the widows, Retirement and becoming Obsolete. At least in the metros and top tier cities, Eldercare is gaining acceptance, which is definitely a positive shift for the overall societal outlook perspective.
The larger point of debate is, when an industry or sector grows in an unregulated manner, it is bound to have repercussions in the long run, both for the consumers and for the service providers.
Way back in the mid '90s, mobile phone SIM cards were distributed free of cost without the customer realizing that ₹500/- per month billing has got activated, this resulted in thousands of recovery cases. Again in mid 2000 when the life insurance sector was booming, there were thousands of policy holders who did not realize that half the premium will get absorbed as administrative charges. Similar terms and conditions were later seen in the Hospital and Healthcare sector.
In all the above cases, it was the image of the industry which got affected and the confidence of consumers in genuine service providers got impacted.
Today, we are seeing a similar trend in the Eldercare space, while most organisations are genuine and committed, but unfortunately a few bad apples are giving the sector a negative image.
Though there is no single solution to fix this issue, however at the National level if policymakers and stakeholders do not create an interdisciplinary approach and develop minimum standards and guidelines until then we will have to take our chances with uncertified and incompetent services.
Do visit the Elderly Care India website: elderlycareindia.org for free resources and information.
Pankaj Mehrotra
