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The Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment, virtually launched the SAGE (Seniorcare Aging Growth Engine) initiative and SAGE portal for elderly persons recently
Need for the programme
India’s elderly population is on the rise, and as per surveys, the share of elders, as a percentage of the total population in the country, is expected to increase from around 7.5% in 2001 to almost 12.5% by 2026, and surpass 19.5% by 2050. There is an urgent need to create a more robust elder care ecosystem in India, especially in the post-COVID phase
About SAGE
- The Ministry has designed the SAGE programme as per the suggestions of the Empowered Committee on start-ups for the elderly to solicit the involvement of youth and their innovative ideas for elderly care.
- SAGE programme and SAGE portal have been launched with a view to help such persons who are interested in entrepreneurship in the field of providing services for elderly care
- Under the programme, upto Rs 1 crore will be given to Startups for elderly care
- The SAGE project aims to identify, evaluate, verify, aggregate, and deliver products, solutions and services directly to the stakeholders.
- The Ministry will act as a facilitator, enabling the elderly to access the products through these identified start-ups.
- An allocation of Rs 25 crores has been made for the SAGE project in the current financial year i.e 2021-22.
SAGE portal
It is a “one-stop access” of elderly care products and services by credible start-ups.
The start-ups will be selected on the basis of innovative products and services, which they should be able to provide across sectors such as health, housing, care centers, apart from technological access linked to finances, food and wealth management, and legal guidance.
