Right to Excellence 2024: "Technology is the big answer to improve India's healthcare system," says Rajit Mehta, MD and CEO of Antara

‘Right to Excellence’ is a flagship initiative of The Times of India and it aims to commemorate advancements in various sectors that give a great boost to India's growth. The 10th edition of ‘Right to Excellence’ took place on July 22, 2024. This time the topic of the summit was “Senior Well-Being”. While India currently continues to enjoy a good sizable demographic dividend of young people, according to an ADB report called 'Aging Well in Asia: Asian Development Policy Report', which was published in May 2024, this number will eventually dwindle. And so, now is the time to invest and promote the wellbeing of elderly people. The old-age dependency ratio for India, which was 20% in 2022, is bound to increase by 10% in 2050. Thus, this summit has come at a time when serious discussions need to happen around the issues faced by the elderly.

Talking on these lines, Rajit Mehta, MD and CEO of Antara Senior Care, had a discussion with moderator Dr Ananya Awasthi on the topic of ‘The Future of Senior Living: Innovations and Opportunities’ at ‘Right to Excellence- Senior Well-Being' summit.


During this insightful discussion, Rajit Mehta threw light upon various aspects of senior healthcare in India. He talked about the breaking down of the good old Indian joint-family community care system in contemporary times. While people are slowly accepting individuality as a new norm, and moving away from their homes- the older generation of varied ages with varied necessities need a good healthcare system. This sector is already “about $10-15 billion” in size. He further said, “The issue in India is not about the size of the market but always about whether you can spot value pools where you can create sustainable relevant markets.”

Talking about the challenges faced by the older generation, Rajit emphasized three which were mainly- financial security, capacity to learn, and healthcare. He mentioned that 70% of Indians don’t have a pension scheme and are dependent on their children or life savings for finances. As a solution to this, Mehta suggested increasing the retirement age in both government and private sectors; he mentioned that various enterprises have already started working to rectify these issues. He also spoke about government schemes focusing on second-innings employment for the elderly. Citing an example, he mentioned about a project in Bangalore that connects retired people who wish to work with people who wish to hire them, thus creating jobs for the elderly. Further the earlier age cap on buying health insurances has been removed by the government of India. A venture by Antara AGEasy enables a system where elderly can opt for self care where they diagnose themselves for non-serious health problems and get the meds too through their shops.

Furthermore, talking about solutions to the issue of healthcare in India, Mehta said, “Technology is the big answer”. Elaborating it, he said that the answer to the lack of caregivers in India is technology. Companies around the world have developed software and tools that give the best healthcare. They don't even compromise on the feeling of human touch a they are installing neuromuscular touch sensors in their devices. GPS-controlled wheelchairs, robots, and fall detection sensors are all the buzz these days, he added. These applications will enhance the healthcare system in India by ten-folds, he concluded.