Published Paper Details:

Population aging is a worldwide phenomenon, and India is no exception to the rule. Census reports indicate that the Indian population has approximately tripled during the last 50 years, but the number of elderly Indians has increased more than fourfold. When considering the continuation of the trend, the United Nations predicts that the Indian population will again grow by 50 percent in the next 50 years, whereas the elderly population is expected to grow another fourfold. India has more than 50% of its population below the age of 25 and more than 65% below the age of 35. It is expected that, in 2020, the average age of an Indian will be 29 years, compared to 37 for China and 48 for Japan; and, by 2030, India's dependency ratio should be just over 0.4. This paper also tries to draw attention on the increasing urbanization trend in India. It tries to highlight that though presently, in absolute terms, the urban population is relatively much lesser than the rural population, still we cannot afford to overlook the shifting rural to urban population trends. The share of urban population of the total is constantly increasing. It is estimated that close to the year 2050 more people in India would live in urban areas rather than rural. This makes the time apt for looking into the urban India challenges separately, strategizing afresh, with focus on urban issues and not merely extending the existing development strategies, with less focus on urban issues.