Ageism is discrimination against people on the basis of their age. It is growing high among western countries due to their way of lifestyle. When it concerns India, “ageism is not considered has a major prevailing problem”. I would like to justify my statement with a few factual points. Firstly, India has a high rate of young population and the old-age dependency rate is low at (9%) unlike Japan (49%), Italy (36%), Finland (35%), which rates high in old age dependency rates. Secondly, according to our constitutional framework, elderly people are being given first preference for their valuable experiences. For example the first President of the constitutional assembly Mr. Sachchidananda Sinha who was elected on basis of his age, where he was the eldest person among the committee members and not through an election process. The Chief Justice of India is also selected on the basis of seniority. In the field of politics, nowhere in the constitution of India, the maximum age has been mentioned for the various prestigious posts. Enriched India has most MPs aged 56–70 and they have the highest share of seats (44 %) in the current Lok Sabha and MPs aged 60–100 have the highest share of seats(64.3%) in Rajya Sabha. Elderly (71–100) MPs occupy 9.6 % of the seats, while their age-group makes up 2.4 % of the population. Thirdly, in the field of professions like Medical, law, and consulting firms CA, CMA, and CS experience play a major role. In the medical field, doctors can diagnose patients till the age; he himself becomes a patient and not in the position to further renders his service due to his health condition. Our Honorable PM Narendra Modi has extended the retirement age of the centrally appointed doctors from 60 to 65 because of their excellence and their great experience in the field. Then according to the Indian’s mindset ‘aged doctors have a good experience in their field’ so, the people prefer to be treated by a well-experienced (aged) doctor. Law field, people rely more on an experienced lawyer rather than a budding one. In a gathering at the CJI’s felicitation ceremony, K.K. Venugopal the Attorney General of India has rightly said that “lawyers who are in the 70s and 80s are “vigorously” arguing their cases in court and likewise, the retirement age of judges can be extended to 70 years in the case of Supreme Court and 68 years for high courts” was is golden words. So regardless of their age, their experience and passion for the work make the elderly people be the real heroes in these fields. Elderly people also contribute to the development of the country because; they are the ones who carry on the cultural values and Vedic practices, ayurvedic and Siddha medical treatments from one generation to another. So, this budding issue has been well handled by our government by introducing various welfare schemes for their wellbeing. I would like to list here a few, Senior Citizens Saving Scheme (SCSS), this is a government-backed savings instrument offered to Indian residents above the age of 60. Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana (RVY), this scheme is only available to those senior citizens, who are below the poverty line, that is, BPL cardholders. So finally, I would like to conclude by stating a proverb that “AN ELDERLY PERSON IN A HOME IS LIKE A LIVING GOLDEN TREASURE”.
VIGAASINI RANGANATHAN