NITI Aayog has proposed a framework to organise India’s caregiving sector, including a National Policy on Caregiving, a National Caregiver Council, standardised training and certification, and social security support for caregivers. Its report, Reimagining Care: Strategies for Empowering Caregivers in Viksit Bharat@2047, released on 5 August, states that India will need a larger professional caregiving workforce to meet rising demand at home and abroad.
What Is Changing?
India’s caregiving system spans families, communities and formal care services, with much work still done informally. NITI Aayog proposes building a more organised system where caregiving is treated as a skilled profession with defined standards and protections.
The report proposes a National Policy on Caregiving and a National Caregiver Council to oversee certification, accreditation, registration, professional standards and grievance redressal.
It also recommends specialised training for geriatric, dementia and palliative care, along with standardised curricula and certification. A proposed digital caregiver portal would maintain a directory of certified workers, support background checks, and provide digital training.
The aim is a workforce that can provide reliable care while giving caregivers a clearer professional pathway.
Why Does It Matter?
One of the biggest drivers of this need is India’s ageing population. The number of Indians aged 60 and above is projected to rise from 149 million in 2022 to 347 million by 2050. As people live longer, demand for elderly, long-term, home-based and specialised care is likely to grow.
Much of this responsibility currently falls on households. The National Statistical Office’s Time Use Survey 2024 found that 41% of women aged 15–59 engaged in caregiving for household members, compared with 21.4% of men. Women who participated spent an average of 140 minutes a day on caregiving, compared with 74 minutes for men.
Formalising parts of this work addresses two needs: providing more reliable care as demand rises, and creating paid employment from work often unpaid within families.
The opportunity extends beyond India. Ageing economies face shortages of long-term-care workers. The OECD estimates its member countries will need 13.5 million additional long-term-care workers by 2040 to maintain the current worker-to-older-person ratio.
NITI Aayog sees this as an opportunity to develop Indian caregivers for both domestic needs and international employment.
What Happens Next?
The proposed system requires greater coordination between institutions involved in healthcare, disability services, skill development, and caregiver training. NITI Aayog recommends expanding specialised courses, standardising training, and strengthening institutions that prepare caregivers for professional work.
For international employment, the report proposes government-to-government partnerships with countries including Japan, Germany, the UK and Australia, alongside language training, ethical recruitment and reintegration mechanisms.
What Should India Do?
India should treat caregiving as both an essential social service and an employment opportunity. Certification alone will not be enough; caregivers will also need decent working conditions, social security and opportunities for career progression.
The immediate priority is to build a stronger system for India’s own ageing population. But if India can professionalise the care work that families already perform, it could also develop a skilled workforce capable of meeting growing demand in ageing economies abroad.
***
Source note:
This article is based on NITI Aayog’s 5 August 2026 report, Reimagining Care: Strategies for Empowering Caregivers in Viksit Bharat@2047, and the PIB’s announcement on the report’s release. Additional context on women’s caregiving responsibilities and India’s care economy was drawn from the National Statistical Office’s Time Use Survey 2024 and OECD’s research on long-term care workforce needs.
Editorial Disclosure:
AI-assisted tools were used to help summarise and organise information from the source reports and to support language and copy-editing.