SAGE portal

The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has launched the SAGE (Seniorcare Aging Growth Engine) portal for elderly persons.
The SAGE portal will be a “one-stop access” of elderly care products and services by credible start-ups.
It has been launched with a view to help such persons who are interested in entrepreneurship in the field of providing services for elderly care.
The SAGE project aims to identify, evaluate, verify, aggregate, and deliver products, solutions and services directly to the stakeholders.
The Ministry will act as a facilitator, enabling the elderly to access the products through these identified start-ups.
The start-ups will be selected by an independent screening committee of experts. The selection would be on the basis of innovative products and services, which they should be able to provide across sectors such as health, housing, care centers, apart from technological access linked to finances, food and wealth management, and legal guidance.
A fund of upto Rs.1 crore as one-time equity will be granted to each selected start-up.
An allocation of Rs 25 crores has been made for the SAGE project in the current financial year i.e 2021-22.

- The share of elders, as a percentage of the total population in the country, is expected to increase from around 7.5% in 2001 to almost 12.5% by 2026, and surpass 19.5% by 2050 according to some surveys.
- There is an urgent need to create a more robust elder care ecosystem in India, especially in the post-COVID phase.
- Keeping this need in mind, an amount of Rs 100 crore has been assigned by the government for the promotion of the silver economy.

Silver Economy is defined as the market that is being developed around the needs of an ageing population, with a focus on innovation.

The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment conducted an awareness drive about the SAGE portal for elderly persons.

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