Dependency Ratio and North East India: in the Wave of Demographic Transformation

The dependency ratio is a prolific representative of demographic situation of a region. North East India is a region with numerous perplexing demographic struggles, experiencing continuously transforming socio-economic scenario. From the analysis of dependency ratio of the North Eastern states, it is revealed that the dependency ratio for each of these states is decreasing. Sikkim has experienced a highest decrease in the ratio from the value of 67.9 of 2001 to 51.3 of 2011. Though the ratio of child dependency has registered a sharp decline in Nagaland during 2001-2011decade, in Meghalaya and Manipur, this has shown anincrease in a2001-2011 decade than the previous decade of 1991-2001. On the other hand, in case of elderly population, Assam, Tripura, and Manipur have recorded growth during 2001-2011 decade than the previous decade. Thus in this complex altering panorama of demography, it becomes very necessary to review the existing policies and legal, social set up to ensure the welfare of these groups of dependents. Particularly, it is utmost necessary to guarantee the basic rights of the elderly population through execution of different welfare programmes.