Ageing is a universal experience for everyone, with diversity in meaning and interpretation. The global phenomenon of population ageing also afflicts India. Though the process of ageing of India’s population is still in its early phase, it is expected to gain momentum in the 21century and pose a major problem to the country. Care for the elderly is fast emerging as a critical element of public and private concern. The interface between the State and social institutions in the care of the elderly forms an important area of inquiry. The book seeks to examine how India has been coping with the problems of the elderly. Issues such as the dynamics of care giving processes as also the family’s coping capability are also explored. It also seeks to understand the social aspects concerning aged women in the country as they go through the process of ageing. It focuses attention on the position of ageing women and their well-being. Another concern is to examine the modes of state intervention over time in the care of the elderly, and its impact on social institutions. This leads to examine whether state intervention results in either diminishing or in reducing these institutions to the status of being a ‘residue’. This study also seeks to inquire into the patterns of social support, both formal and informal. It observes that provision of care is not a zero-sum activity and that neither is there a fixed quantum of care to be given nor is it divisible between public and private spheres. It argues that there is complementarity rather than competition between formal and informal care. It advocates that attempts be made to interweave formal care with informal care. The book will be highly useful to social gerontologists, geriatricians, policy makers, planners, social scientists and all those interested in issues related to the elderly.
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