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| Photo Credit: The Hindu
The Supreme Court of India on Friday (January 20, 2025) allowed a petitioner seeking the creation of a dedicated Ministry for senior citizens in the country to make a representation before the government.
A Bench headed by Justice P.S. Narasimha, who light-heartedly said even judges were part of the senior citizen age group, told petitioner-advocate G. Priyadarshini, represented by senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan and advocate Rahul Shyam Bhandari, the court cannot intervene or direct the creation of an exclusive Ministry.
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Highlighting the necessity of a separate department or Ministry for the elderly, Mr. Sankaranarayanan said India may have one of the largest ageing population in the world.
“It is imperative to have an exclusive Ministry/exclusive department that can cater to the policies, schemes, financial assistance, health care requirements, pension, etc. This unprecedented rise in the ageing population, if not categorically handled by an exclusive Ministry/specific department, shall have detrimental implications in health, economy and in the societal structure at large,” the petition said.
It submitted that the India Ageing Report 2023 ‘Caring for Our Elders: Institutional Responses’ said there were 149 million persons aged 60 years and above in 2022, comprising around 10.5% of the country’s population (which amounts to 14.9 crore).
“By 2050, the share of older persons will double to 20.8%, with the absolute number at 347 million (34.7 crore),” the petition quoted from the report.
The petitioner argued that senior citizens were a vulnerable class and came under the Constitutional prism of Article 21 (right to a dignified life). Senior Citizens, owing to their unique challenges and vulnerability, were akin to the same degree of protection and welfare that the Constitution envisaged for women and children under Article 15 of the Constitution.
“The Department of Women and Child Development, which was originally operating under the Ministry of Human Resource Development since 1985, was elevated to the status of a full-fledged Ministry on January 30, 2006 with the prime intention for addressing gaps in State action for women and children,” the petition had reminded.
It said senior citizens also face unique and myriad challenges as far as health, societal structure, financial instability and dependence were concerned. The Social Defense Division under the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has clubbed senior citizens’ issues with those of victims of alcoholism and substance abuse, transgender persons and beggars/destitutes.
Published – January 20, 2025 12:27 pm IST
