RajasthanandMaharashtrahave emerged as the top-scoring states in the aged states category, while Chandigarh andMizoramhave topped the rankings onUnion territoriesand north eastern states respectively, a report on the quality of life for the elderly showed.

The report classifies aged states as those with elderly Population of more than five million. States with less than five million elderly people have been termed relatively-aged. The report identifies the regional patterns in ageing across states and provides a deeper insight of what is being done to support the elderly population.

The reports index framework includes four pillars: financial well-being, social well-being, Health system and income security; and eight sub-pillars: economic Empowerment, educational attainment and EMPLOYMENT, social status, physical security, basic health, psychological well being, social security and enabling Environment.

The index created by theInstitute for Competitivenesshighlights that the best way to improve the lives of the current and future generations of older people is by investing today in the health, Education and employment for the young.

The health system pillar shows the highest national Average of 66.97, followed by 62.34 in social well-being. The financial well-being score is at 44.7, which is lowered by the low performance of 21 states across the education attainment and employment pillars, which has scope for improvement. Many states have performed particularly worse in the income security pillar because over half of them have a score below the national average of 33.03, which is the lowest across all pillars.