Elderly group in SL’s population rising; government official
View(s):“Our preliminary report states that the total population increased to 21.7 million in 2024, while the growth rate declined to 0.5 per cent from 0.7 per cent in 2021. The ‘feminization of ageing’ trend for those over 70 years in the 2012 census continued in the 2024 census,” said Dr. W.A. Chandani Wijebandara, Director (Statistics), Department of Census and Statistics.
She was speaking at a recent discussion titled “Elderly issues and the way forward” organised by the Sunrise Senior Foundation (SSF), a prominent not-for-profit organisation working in the interests of senior citizens, held on July 21 in Colombo. The discussion brought together high-level government officials and civil society representatives aimed at charting policy formulation on senior citizens.
Ms. Shiranthi Rathnayake, Director-General, Department of National Planning, Ministry of Finance, discussing a safety net or pensions for the elders, said that Sri Lanka has the fastest ageing population in South Asia and a lower fertility rate. “One out of four persons by the year 2040 will belong to the elderly. We need to consider this Silver economy and have proper planning for health, life education, geriatric care and labour market development,” she said, adding that health care is expensive for the elderly and stressed the need to focus on geriatric and palliative care.
Chathura Mihidum, Director, National Secretariat for Elders, said there are 11,500 elder committees at village level of which only 50-60 per cent are active. He said a New Policy on Elders is being drafted to replace the 2006 policy. “There are 456 elders’ homes of which only 136 are registered. We need to monitor and regulate the registered ones,” he added.
Tax expert N.R. Gajendran said the dependency ratio goes up with the elders living longer under the extended family concept. “The retirement age should go up. I get many calls from senior citizens on preparing taxes. One person said when asked to pay taxes on savings, ‘I have already paid taxes all my life on this income’,” he said, adding that the new property tax is a killer.” What happens to a person who has no income and lives in his own house? How can you tax this person?” he asked.
Economist Dhananath Fernando said that price pressures worry the elderly.
Even if they get a higher rate of interest on deposits it means nothing because they are spending more on goods and services. By 2040 there would be a lesser number of kids with the younger population declining.
He urged the authorities to incentivise private pension schemes, lamented the lack of better short-term stay facilities for elders and proposed increasing the retirement age and providing options for the elderly to work and engage.
Demography expert Prof. Manori Weeratunga said there has been a sharp increase in the 80 years and over population. “The vulnerable groups are mainly elders in the village. We need to empower senior citizens as most of them are in the informal sector. There should be no taxes and they should receive some form of pension,” she said.
Public Health expert Dr. Susie Perera said elders desperately need transplants and dialysis. “People over 60 years denied dialysis in public health care centres and forced to access this through the private sector,” she said.
Sociologist Prof. Siri Hettige said elders are under enormous pressure and social protection is the key to look after them. “We need interim solutions… what can we do now? We need to make ageing inclusive instead of being marginalised,” he said.
Chaminda de Silva from Helpage, said the organisation which cares for senior citizens, has a presence in 100 countries. “We give training on various aspects to senior citizens who are not active and some elders have done well in income generating activities,” he said.
Sarvodaya President Dr. Vinya Ariyaratne noted that some segments of the elderly population can manage on their own because of their socio economic status. “We need integrated community centres and a care model for these centres. Those seeking elder care jobs overseas should also work for 2-3 years in Sri Lanka,” he said.
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