On August 20, 2020 In New Delhi, India, M Venkaiah Naidu, Vice president of India released 2 research reports of the Indian Association of Parliamentarians on Population and Development (IAPPD) namely, ‘Status of Sex Ratio at Birth in India’, that describes about the imbalance in the number of females and males in the population and ‘Elderly Population in India: Status and Support Systems’, which highlights the issues of the elderly population in the country and states some useful recommendations to improve their plight.
Points to be Noted
i.The report ‘Status of Sex Ratio at Birth in India’, pertains to very important social indicator, the sex ratio at birth (SRB).
ii.It mentioned that there has been no change in the sex ratio at birth in India from 2001-2017, ie., the number of girl children born is much less than what is the general or natural norm.
Key People
Prof. P.J. Kurien, Chairman of IAPPD and the former Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha; Manmohan Sharma, Secretary of IAPPD among others were also present on the occasion.
Experts– Dr P.P. Talwar, Dr Sudesh Nangia and Dr J.S. Yadav.
Projections of Experts
As per the projection of experts, India’s population is expected to grow to 1.52 billion by 2036 (by 25% with reference to Census 2011). The urban population is projected to grow to 38.2% by 2036 from 31.8% in 2011.
Key Info
i.M Venkaiah Naidu, stressed on the need for rigorous implementation of the Pre-conception & Pre-natal Diagnostics Techniques (PC & PNDT) law to bring about a balance in the sex ratio.
ii.He urged the elected representatives at all levels to draw the attention of people in their respective areas to the alarming aspect of skewed sex ratio.
iii.It is to be noted that, in spite of legislations like the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act 2007, the elderly are neglected, abandoned and abused.
Additional Info:
i.The elderly population is likely to be more than 300 million in 2050 and shall constitute almost 20 % of the population.
ii.India has more than 110 male babies born for every 100 female babies. As per the Census 2011, India had 940 females for every 1000 males.
Few Initiatives by India for Elderly and for Girl Children
Girl children– BetiBachao, Beti Padhao and Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana
Elderly– Schemes like Varishtha Pension Bima Yojana, Integrated Programme for Senior Citizens and National Programme for the Healthcare of Elderly. There are given concessions in income tax and railways/ airlines travel.
Recent Related News:
i.The new report on clean energy transition in India titled “Towards a Clean Energy Economy: Post-Covid-19 Opportunities for India’s Energy and Mobility Sectors” brought out jointly by the National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog and the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) to support India’s clean energy future.
ii.United Nations Children’s Fund(UNICEF) and Pure Earth, international non-profit organization authored and published the first of kind report on the health crisis titled “The Toxic Truth: Children’s Exposure to Lead Pollution Undermines a Generation of Future Potential” states that around lead poisoning affects large number of children all across the globe.
- The report states that around 1 in every 3 that is around 800 million children across the world has the blood lead level above or at 5 micrograms per deciliter (μg/dL), the amount at which action is required and Almost 50% of these children live in South Africa.
About IAPPD:
It is a national level Non-Governmental organization.
Headquarters– New Delhi, India
Chairman– Prof. P.J. Kurien
