Issues in Implementation of National Policy for Older Persons (NPOP)1999 in India

Abstract

The Indian government after numerous times of debate eventually declared the National Policy of the Aged Persons in January 1999, the International Year of the Aged Persons. The NPOP, blazoned in January 1999 had the primary objects of encouraging individualities to make provision for their own as well as their partner's old age; encouraging families to take care of their aged family members; and creating in the senior persons an mindfulness of the need to develop themselves into independent citizens. The Policy also aims at enabling and supporting non-governmental associations to condense the care handed by the family; furnishing care and protection to the vulnerable senior; furnishing health care installations to the senior; promoting exploration and training installations, training senior care givers and organizers of services for the senior (Giri and et al 2011 21- 26). The Ministry of Social Justice and commission (MOSJE) coordinate the perpetration of NPOP while numerous rudiments of the Policy are under the authorizations of several other ministries. After about a decade of perpetration of NPOP, the MOSJE set up a commission of experts to review perpetration experience and suggest ways and means for perfecting the policy content and its perpetration. The expert commission has now prepared a revised National Policy for Senior Citizens (NPSC) that recognizes that (a) senior women need special attention, (b) pastoral poor need special attention and (c) factoring the advancements in medical technology and assistive into the revised policy. The paper makes identify for mainstreaming geriatric as a strategy for integrating geriatric issues into all sectoral programs and at all situations. The need for perfecting the overall mindfulness and empathy for aged persons and strengthening coffers and public capacity for integration have been underscored in the paper.