Rajya Sabha MP Rajinder Gupta flags policy gaps in job rights for senior citizens

Raising the issue in the House during Zero Hour, Gupta urged the government to address the lack of safeguards and opportunities for the country’s ageing workforce.

Addressing the Chair, Gupta noted that India was undergoing a rapid demographic transition, with the population aged 60 years and above having crossed 140 million and projected to rise to nearly 350 million by 2036, according to official estimates.

He pointed out that with life expectancy nearing 70 years, the country had a large pool of healthy, skilled and experienced senior citizens willing and capable of contributing productively well beyond the conventional retirement age. However, he expressed concern that India lacks a comprehensive legal framework to tackle age-based discrimination in employment or to formally recognise the right to work beyond retirement on the basis of ability rather than age.

Gupta said despite constitutional guarantees of equality, age-based discrimination in employment persists, with post-retirement work largely limited to insecure, short-term arrangements.

This disproportionately affects senior citizens, especially in the private sector, where legal protections are weak. Gupta noted that several developed countries including the United States, United Kingdom, European Union, Australia, Canada and Japan have adopted progressive laws to promote active ageing. In Japan, where nearly 29% of the population is over 65, age-based employment barriers have been removed, allowing older citizens to remain in the workforce.

Urging timely policy intervention, Gupta called upon the government to initiate a comprehensive legal framework to address age-based discrimination in employment. He stressed the need to ensure the right to work beyond retirement for senior citizens who are willing and capable, while also creating flexible, dignified, and safeguarded employment opportunities for the ageing population.

Gupta emphasised that such reforms would not only reinforce constitutional values of equality and dignity but also help unlock the vast economic, social, and intellectual potential of India’s growing senior citizen demographic.