Irreversibility of age ~ reversibility of ideas

Along with the rest of the world, Nagaland too will celebrate the International Day of Older Persons, on October 1 next, for which the State Department of Social Welfare is organizing a celebratory programme on that day at Kohima. The event, ostensibly, is to recognize their contributions to society and promote their inclusion and well-being. This is a welcome step seeing that a good number of countries today have increasing aging populations and many more countries are slowly but surely joining the queue ~ not least India. The issues in regard to aging population are numerous, which impact a country’s political, economic, social and cultural dynamics. We are seeing how Scandinavian countries particularly are encouraging and incentivizing young people to have more children. An aging population has perhaps the most impact on any country’s economic sphere, especially ambitious countries. For instance, recently China has increased the retirement age. An aging population not only impacts on the corporeal aspects of the labour force but also underscores the value of knowledge, wisdom and experience that come only with age. Obviously, countries that are home to aging populations have a tough task of balancing the equal need for corporeal labour and knowledge, wisdom and experience. An aging population also means increased expenditure on health and social welfare and security, which normally is supported by a robust economy rooted on a vigorous labour force. However, the absence of such vigorous labour force invites immigrant labour and we can see the impact in several Western countries but an immigrant labour creates another whole set of issues politically, economically, socially and culturally. In Nagaland also we are dealing with issues of labour and migrants ~ both legal and illegal ~ not only because of issues of aging population but also because of several other factors that are rooted in our politics, economics and social and cultural dynamics. But then such dynamics are equally prevalent in other countries too though in different forms. From what is happening globally today in terms of the reality of an aging population, it is clear that the world probably never envisaged the hard-hitting impacts of an aging population ~ either population experts didn’t do their job or Governments ignored their advice. But now that we know that an aging population comes with its own set of issues, which can derail lofty visions of political and economic powerdom, there is no reason why Governments shouldn’t equitably prioritise on population demographics and build balanced future projections around them. In India, that means Nagaland too, with our not-so-acceptable levels of education, healthcare and other developmental and social indices, a future of an aging population coupled with an uneducated, unemployable and unhealthy burgeoning youth population doesn’t look too rosy. So, we can and must celebrate our Older Persons all we want but without a support system first in the form of robust and inclusive policies for our senior citizens, secondly a robust economy supported by a healthy, educated and committed youth population, celebrating Older Persons once a year will not do. In fact, the best way to celebrate Older Persons would be to draw out their best potentials in terms of experience, knowledge and wisdom so that they would be enabled and empowered to contribute the best they still have in them. The best to way to celebrate Older Persons would be to ensure that they are not marginalized but able to live full active lives by way of providing comfortable, convenient and safe roads, pavements, public spaces such as parks, libraries and entertainment facilities, healthcare delivery systems, social activities and several other services. The best way to celebrate Older Persons would be to provide caring and sensitive institutional and home health care. Most of all the best way to celebrate Older Persons would be to avoid perceiving and treating them as imbeciles and disposable. With an inevitable aging population the world is already grappling with, and this grappling will be compounded and more complex in time, the need is new and changed perceptions of Older Persons. The fact is everyone will age ~ aging is irreversible ~ however sensitive and inclusive thinking and policy-making, as also evolving cultural perceptions, are always supposed to be purposefully dynamic and perpetual.