Revision summary
Longevity and fewer children make ageing demographically visible. Household fission and migration weaken traditional care. Widows and informal workers are the sharp edge. Honour ideology hides neglect and work in old age. Welfare pensions and health must supplement family duty.
Model answer
Copper italics in this answer — like this — are the key facts. Each one is unpacked in the Facts & figures rail.
Introduction
Ageing is an emerging Indian issue because longevity is rising while the joint household that was supposed to care is thinning. The elderly are more visible, more female at the oldest ages, and less guaranteed a son’s roof.
Body
Why emerging
- Fertility decline and better survival produce a larger old-age share, first in the south and among the middle class.
- Urbanisation and migration empty the village house that ideology still calls the ashrama of care.
- Informal work means no pension for most, so ageing is a poverty risk, especially for widows under Seed and Earth.
Social form of the issue
- Loneliness, abuse, and medical cost meet a cultural claim that old age is honoured.
- Feminization of later life: more widows, less property.
- Policy (Maintenance Act, sparse pensions, homes) is catching up slowly, a welfare lag Yogendra Singh would call incomplete modernization of tradition.
Not only a rich-country issue
- Poor elderly continue to work. Ageing is not retirement; it is weaker bodies in the same informal market.
Flow diagram
flowchart TD DEM[Longevity low fertility] --> AG[Ageing] MIG[Migration small household] --> AG INF[No pension widowhood] --> AG
Conclusion
Ageing emerges as a social issue where demography meets a mobile, informal, still-patrilineal family. It will thicken unless public care matches the missing joint roof.
Quick related
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Is ageing only a southern states issue?
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For the abandoned, homes are a right. The larger need is pension and public health.
Same topic · past papers
UPSC has asked this before
These previous-year questions sit on the same topic. Open one to practise the earlier ask.
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2021 · Q6(b) · Sociology GS 2 · 20 marks
Is 'ageing an emerging issue in Indian society ? Discuss the major problems of the old age people in India -
2018 · Q7(c) · Sociology GS 2 · 15 marks
With increase in education and economic development is Indian society becoming more secular.
More from this topic
Q5(e) · UPSC Mains 2026 · Sociology GS 2 · 10 marks · Solution
Bring out the debates of 'insiders' and 'outsiders' approaches in understanding Indian society.
Perspectives on the study of Indian society
• The insider (emic) approach studies Indian society using native categories, sacred texts, and cultural immersion, championed by G.S. Ghurye and D.P. Mukerji. • Critics argue the insider view suffers from upper-caste bias and ignores ground realities in favor of normative texts. • The outsider (etic) approach applies universal models and comparative frameworks, famously used by Western scholars like Louis Dumont. • Critics dismiss the outsider view as orientalist reductionism that imposes Western concepts and misinterprets local idioms. • Modern Indian sociology bridges this binary through a reflexive methodology combining cultural familiarity with analytical rigor. • Ultimately, combining native insights with objective scrutiny is essential to capture India's complex social dynamics.
Q5(a) · UPSC Mains 2026 · Sociology GS 2 · 10 marks · Solution
Discuss the challenges faced by the aged people in receiving 'elder care'.
Perspectives on the study of Indian society
• India's aging population faces severe elder care challenges due to the breakdown of traditional joint families and youth out-migration. • Over 80% of seniors lack formal pensions because they worked in the informal sector, worsening financial vulnerability. • High out-of-pocket medical costs for chronic illnesses quickly drain meager personal savings. • Public hospitals suffer from an acute shortage of geriatric specialists, dedicated wards, and rehabilitation facilities. • Implementation of the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007 remains weak, leaving legal tribunals overburdened. • Solutions require shifting from a welfare approach to a rights-based framework, combining community care networks with strict legal enforcement under Article 41.
Q4(c) · UPSC Mains 2026 · Sociology GS 2 · 10 marks · Solution
Compare G. S. Ghurye's and A. R. Desai's approaches used in understanding Indian society
Perspectives on the study of Indian society
• **Ghurye’s Indological Approach:** Relied on sacred texts and classical literature to study Indian society through civilizational continuity. • **Core Themes in Ghurye:** Focused on caste, kin, and how Hinduism historically integrated diverse tribal and regional groups. • **Desai’s Materialist Approach:** Rejected textual idealism in favor of Marxist political economy to study social structures. • **Economic Formations:** Analyzed Indian society through successive modes of production—ancient, feudal, and colonial capitalist. • **Caste vs. Class:** Viewed caste and religion as superstructural elements that mask underlying economic exploitation. • **Critique of State and Nationalism:** Argued that the nationalist movement was bourgeois, leaving agrarian inequalities intact post-independence. • **Key Contrast:** Ghurye highlights cultural tradition and integration, while Desai emphasizes economic power and class conflict.