India washes hands of rights for the elderly-31 Dec 2012Hindustan Times (Delhi)Chetan Chauhan chetan@hindustantimes.com
Abstains from voting for an international legal instrument to protect older people, whose population is rising fast India, unlike its neighbours Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, remained undecided on a United Nations-sponsored international legal instrument to protect the “rights” and “dignity” of the older population — whose number is rapidly rising. Due to better health facilities, the number of older people in India will rise dramatically in the next four decades. According to advocacy group Agewell Foundation, the share of India's population aged 60 and older is projected to climb from about 100 million in 2010 to around 323 million by 2050 — higher than the total population of the US in 2012. “This profound shift in the very limited old-age income support brings with it a variety of social, economic, and health care policy challenges,” said Himanshu Rath of the foundation. As of now, the average life expectancy rate in India is 66.80 years. It was just 37 when India gained