Elderly population bomb ticking in South India, TG flags concern

Hyderabad: The projected growth in the elderly population has led to a discussion on going for additional children especially in the Southern part of the country. The elderly population in Telangana, which was 9.27 per cent (over 32.69 lakh) as per 2011 census has reached 11 per cent as per the projections and would double by the year 2050.

The comments of the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu have sparked debate on the subject as he said that the country needs to think of a demographic dividend beyond 2047 by insisting on leaving the two-child policy. He had also promised to bring a law that persons with more than two children will be eligible for contesting the local body elections. The southern states have not only followed the two-child policy strictly but also are lagging behind total fertility rate (TFR). While the northern states have a TFR of 2.4, the southern states have a TFR of just 1.73.

Presently, Telangana has a population of over 32 lakh when it comes to citizens above 70 years of age. This number is from the 2011 census and as per the projections, the number of people have increased to over 38 lakh currently and as per the estimates the population may be doubled by 2050.

When this issue was raised during a summit by a news channel, the Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy said that it was not beneficial for the country to have large number of elderly population. The average lifespan was 32 years after Independence. After reforms in health, the life span was 56 years and in today’s era it is 80 years. The lifespan is likely to increase and in the coming 10-15 years, it will increase to 100. If this continues, the country will become another Japan if the younger generation is decreasing. Robots were invented in Japan because there is a lack of younger generations, the CM said during the interaction. “It has nothing to do with politics.

When the country needed, it followed the policy of controlling population because there was scarcity of food but today, we are surplus in food, power and other aspects. The steps which are good should be taken,” the CM said. Another issue concerning the politicians is that the delimitation is likely to affect the southern states and benefit the northern states. If the population is taken as the basis for increasing the seats, the southern states are set to get a raw deal.