We may propose a ministry for the elderly: Ex-WHO director

Former director of World Health Organistion (WHO), Gururaj Mutalik, is a distinguished scientist now closely working on issues related to ageing. He is of the view that India needs to gear up to tackle the problems of the elderly, which will grow in the coming years.

A patron of city organisation Janseva Foundation, he feels that the urgency of the matter has not been understood by the government, which now needs to act and not just make policies. Mutalik has served as director of health services, Maharashtra, and worked in other capacities at the national and international levels. He tells Bhagyashree Kulthe why and what are the reasons of poor implementation of senior citizens' policies in the country and problems of senior citizens.

Why are there no policies addressing the aged population the way they should?
After much persuasion and pressure from individuals and organisations, the government has formed some policies for the welfare of the aged. Many states do not even have policies, and in some states, they remain on paper. Implementation is a major problem. There are no programmes and projects to take the benefits to the aged. Paucity of funds is another hurdle. We need to have a responsible machinery for implementation and review of policies. The policies need to look at how we can stop wastage of experience and resources we have in the form of senior citizens. India will soon become a nation with the largest population of senior citizens.

How are the problems of the aged in India different from those in other countries? Where do we lack in tackling them?
Within a few years, we will overtake China in the number of senior citizens. The government needs to understand the urgency of the matter. We cannot neglect the aged any more. Unlike other nations, a majority of our senior citizens are in rural areas, where our policies and facilities hardly reach. Their problems have been long neglected and they have no access to health and other facilities. The number of widows too is huge. They have different problems than those faced by men. Social and economic insecurity is a major problem faced by them, which is not the case in many other countries. Hence, the government needs to incorporate these issues in its policies.

How will the national consultation, to be held from November 24, help?
Because implementation is the main problem, we will see how the government can be persuaded to improve the functioning of agencies responsible for forming policies for the elderly. Implementation is done by local government bodies, which are not serious about it. Through consultation, we may be proposing the formation of a separate ministry for the elderly, which is now the need of the hour. As we will have a gathering of government authorities from various states, it will help to see what other states are doing and policies can be revamped for betterment of the elderly. We hope to come up with concrete recommendation and a proper body for persuasion and review of the outcome of the meet.

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