22 January 2009
By Nozia Sayyed
The plan has been sent to Indian government
ILC president Sharadchandra Gokhale said India has no institution, where statistics, data and issues related to ageing and senior citizens are available. "A multi-disciplinary approach towards geriatrics with psychology, medicine, management and technology should be initiated, developed and sustained," he said, adding the proposal on the council has been sent to the Centre.
The council will not only deal with statistics on the aged population but will also talk about healthy ageing, measures to protect lives and property, financial and social security, government policies and senior citizens, day care centres, longitudinal study, psychological behaviour and attitude in ageing, he said.
Gokhale was talking at an international meet organised by the Social Sciences Centre of Bharati Vidyapeeth and the central government on research priorities in ageing in India on Tuesday.
It was also revealed that the India's ageing population ranks second in the world and the majority of the older people (55%) are women.
The main aim of the meet was to spread awareness about healthy ageing, research and motivation to work towards this cause across the globe with longevity and spirituality given the prime priority in research papers.
Gokhale said other areas of concern related to senior citizens include social security, financial independence, healthcare, welfare, education and policy making areas with newer technologies like stem cell therapy.
The meet was attended by Indian and foreign delegates, who presented research papers on priorities of ageing.
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International Federation of Ageing (IFA) president Dr Irene Hoskins said the 60 and above age group will outnumber the young population by 2050.
Social Sciences Centre of Bharati Vidyapeeth director BT Lawani said more awareness programmes related to senior citizens should be conducted in urban and rural areas. "The government agencies and NGOs should work in an integrated fashion to avoid duplication of work," he said.
Peter Martin from University of IOWA State University and former UGC chairman Arun Nigavekar also presented their papers.
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