Pittsburgh_Patrika_October_2019

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The Pittsburgh Patrika, Vol, 25, No. 1, October 2019 Affordability of the Retirement Communities in India and in Pune City Balwant Dixit, Pittsburgh, PA E-mail: bdixit@pitt.edu In recent years, many reports describing the beginning of a new era in providing much needed shelter, well prepared meals and affordable basic medical care to an estimated 100 million senior citizens of India have appeared in Indian papers and magazines. Not to be outdone, several Indian publications and organizations in the USA have given glowing reports of the retirement communities established in India. Simultaneously, in the USA efforts are underway to build retirement communities for Indians with great enthusiasm. Such stories in print give Indians living outside India and in India a sense of accomplishment and make them feel confident that the problems senior citizens in India are facing will rapidly be solved by just building a few more retirement communities in India. However, if one looks at the ground reality in India one cannot escape the conclusion that the solutions to the difficulties the 100 million seniors in India are facing today are far from being realistically addressed to. The majority of India’s current population is less than 30 years old. The traditional joint family system that works in safeguarding the social and economic security of the seniors has been lost. With the emergence of nuclear family, many seniors are exposed to emotional, physical and financial insecurity. In countries like India the magnitude of economic insecurity is very high with more than half of seniors in India are dependents. According to the 2012 census, the population of India was 1210 million, with a close to 100 million (8.6%) seniors. By 2026 the population of seniors expected to increase to 175 million. Currently, there are 35-40 large independent retirement facilities or communities in India, located in Bangalore, Hyderabad, Dehradun, Chennai, Delhi, Coimbatore, and Pune and in few other cities. The cost of 1BR and 2BR condos in these communities ranges from Rs. 45 lakhs ($50,000) to Rs. 15 crores ($250,000). In addition, monthly service charges range from Rs. 35,000 to 80,000. However, the demand is outstripping the supply by such a wide margin that facilities are sold out before even they are completed. Assisted care, Nursing Care, Alzheimer and Memory Care services are also now available at some of the retirement communities, but costs are very high. Nationally, with the average occupation ranging from 300 to 600 seniors in each of these facilities they can accommodate not more than 15,000 seniors. Usually, the buyers of condos in such facilities are from 26
The Pittsburgh Patrika, Vol, 25, No. 1, October 2019 HOW WE With college-level lab equipment, Senior School students conduct real-world research, such as helping a local museum classify minerals based on their chemical composition – using our scanning electron microscope. EQUIP How will you equip your child with the skills to thrive in college and career? BECAUSE “HOW” MATTERS PK-12 • Four Campuses SHADYSIDEACADEMY.ORG/VISIT OPEN HOUSES OCT. 16 – NOV. 9 the top 1% of the Indian population or rich NRIs returning home or some of them buying condos for their old parents living in India. Most of such facilities are located within or near the large urban areas, with relatively easy access to hospitals and large shopping complexes. Apparently, there is a significant need for these types of relatively high priced facilities in India. For example, a new private, not-for-profit trust, Age Ventures India (AVI), has recently been established to start planning construction of retirement facilities in Bengaluru, Ahmedabad, and Greater Gurgaon area. AVI is partnering with HelpAge India for knowledge sharing and with the USA based Pacifica Senior Living for various aspects of strategic planning. AVI plans to offer comprehensive services necessary for the welfare of the senior citizens In addition to these large retirement facilities, almost every city in India such as Pune, Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Bengaluru, Mysore, Kolkata, Hyderabad have 15 to 20 small retirement facilities offering a mix of amenities such as long or short stay, assisted care, memory care, hospice care with 2 to 4 beds in each room. The quality of bedroom furnishings and associated furnishings vary significantly from one to the other. Meals are usually provided and the monthly service fee ranges from Rs. 40,000 to 70,000 and some facilities even charging up to Rs. 50,000 to get on the waiting list. Such small facilities are always located within the city limits for easy access to medical care and other amenities. These small 29
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