The Department of Social Justice and Empowerment reports that SHATAYU — Senior Holistic Care Assistance and Training for Your Utility — now lists 30,151 trained caregivers across States and UTs. It is a national digital directory that connects families with professional geriatric caregivers.

• Constitution: Article 41 (DPSP) directs the State to provide public assistance in cases of old age, sickness and disablement; "relief of the disabled and unemployable" is Entry 9, State List, while social security is Entry 23, Concurrent List.
• National Policy on Older Persons, 1999: the first policy framework for the financial security, health care and protection of the elderly.
• Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007: a legal duty on children and relatives to maintain parents and senior citizens, enforced through Maintenance Tribunals.
• Atal Vayo Abhyuday Yojana (AVYAY): the umbrella scheme of the Department, covering Integrated Programme for Senior Citizens (old-age homes, day-care), Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana (assistive devices), and the national elderly helpline Elderline (14567).
• Social security: the Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pension Scheme under the National Social Assistance Programme (1995).
• Health: the National Programme for Health Care of the Elderly (NPHCE), and Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY cover extended in 2024 to all citizens aged 70+ regardless of income.

• Services covered: general geriatric care, post-surgical care, dementia and Alzheimer's care, physiotherapy and mobility assistance, palliative care, and help with daily living and rehabilitation.
• Four training categories: Geriatric Care Provider, Geriatric Caregiver (institutional and home care), Wellness Therapist (Elderly) and Elderly Care Companion.
• Competencies: physiological monitoring, emergency handling, bedside mobility, therapeutic rehabilitation, cognitive engagement and emotional companionship.
• Trust features: OTP-based verification, profile access, enrolment tracking and a feedback and rating system.

Figure 3 — SHATAYU at a glance (official infographic)

Services, training categories and digital features of the platform. Image courtesy Press Information Bureau / Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment; reproduced with credit for educational use.

• Formalising care work: it gives trained caregivers visibility, credentials and a route to organised employment in a largely informal market.
• Women's employment: paid care work can draw more women into the labour force while easing the unpaid care burden that falls mainly on them.
• Ageing in place: home-based care lets older persons stay in familiar surroundings, which is usually cheaper and preferred over institutional care.
• Skilling linkage: it links NSDC/NISD training to actual jobs, addressing the gap between certification and employment.

• Scale gap: about 30,000 listed caregivers is small against an elderly population of nearly 15 crore.
• Affordability: the directory is free, but care itself is paid; poorer households may still be unable to afford it without subsidy or insurance.
• Quality and safety: background verification, grievance redress and protection against abuse of elders need clear rules.
• Worker protection: wages, working hours and social security for home-based caregivers are not yet defined; the Code on Social Security, 2020 offers a possible route for coverage.
• Digital divide: many older persons in rural areas cannot use online platforms; assisted access through panchayats or helplines will be needed.

India's installed power capacity has grown from 249 GW in 2014 to about 560 GW in October 2026. Non-fossil sources now make up about 55% of installed capacity, and India ranks third in the world in installed renewable capacity.

• 1981–1992: the Commission for Additional Sources of Energy (1981), then a Department of Non-Conventional Energy Sources (1982), became a separate Ministry in 1992, renamed Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) in 2006.
• Electricity Act, 2003: provided for Renewable Purchase Obligations on distribution companies.
• National Action Plan on Climate Change (2008): its National Solar Mission (2010) began with a 20 GW target, raised in 2015 to 100 GW within an overall 175 GW renewable goal for 2022.
• International Solar Alliance (2015): launched by India and France at COP21, Paris; headquartered in Gurugram.
• COP26 (2021) — Panchamrit: 500 GW of non-fossil capacity by 2030 and net zero by 2070.
• Updated NDC (2022): about 50% of installed capacity from non-fossil sources by 2030 — a target India has now crossed well ahead of time.

Installed solar capacity has grown about 60-fold since 2014. In 2025, India added more than 37 GW, becoming the world's second-largest solar growth market ahead of the United States (34 GW).

Figure 5 — India's solar capacity growth (official infographic)

From 2.82 GW (2014) to ~175 GW (31 October 2026). Image courtesy Press Information Bureau / Ministry of Power and MNRE; reproduced with credit for educational use.

• Wind: 59.20 GW installed; India is fourth globally. A record 6.05 GW was added in FY 2025–26 (46% more than the previous year); about 28 GW is under implementation; turbine manufacturing capacity is about 24 GW, with 70–80% indigenisation.
• Bio-energy: 11.75 GW of bio-power, mostly bagasse-based cogeneration in sugar mills (about 9.8 GW); 839 CBG plants registered, 210 commissioned.
• Hydro: 57.49 GW (large and small); its flexibility helps balance the grid as solar and wind grow.
• Green hydrogen: about 5.5 lakh MTPA of offtake commitments since 2023, over 70% for export; about 8,000 TPA of production capacity commissioned by February 2026; India's first hydrogen fuel-cell train runs on the Jind–Sonipat section.
• Geothermal: the Geological Survey of India studied 381 hot springs and identified 42 promising sites; well-known areas include Puga Valley (Ladakh) and Tattapani (Chhattisgarh).

• Storage gap: solar peaks at midday while demand peaks in the evening; without large-scale battery and pumped storage, clean power may be curtailed.
• Transmission: renewable-rich areas (Rajasthan, Gujarat) are far from demand centres; Green Energy Corridors must keep pace.
• DISCOM finances: loss-making distribution companies delay payments to generators, raising investment risk.
• Upstream manufacturing: India's module capacity is large, but cells, wafers and polysilicon still depend heavily on imports.
• Land and livelihoods: large solar parks and wind farms compete with agriculture and grazing commons, and affect habitats such as that of the Great Indian Bustard.
• Green hydrogen cost: it remains costlier than grey hydrogen made from natural gas; an export-led offtake model depends on overseas demand.