Handbook of Aging, Health and Public Policy Perspectives from Asia

Professor S. Irudaya Rajan currently serves as the Chair of the International Institute of Migration and Development (IIMAD), Kerala, India, and was formerly a Professor at the Center for Development Studies (CDS), Kerala, where he taught and conducted research on aging and migration from 1987 to 2021. He also served as the former president of the Association of Gerontology, India (AGI).

He has played a significant role in shaping aging research in India and his works have been shaped by his association with leading national and international organizations such as United Nations (UN), United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA), World Bank (WB), International Labour Organization (ILO), HelpAge International, South Asian Network of Economic Institutes, and Indo-Dutch Program on Alternatives in Development (IDPAD) of the Indian Council for Social Science Research (ICSSR). His collaboration with Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute and International Research Centre laid the foundation for the Kerala Aging Survey in 2004, which later evolved into a longitudinal survey and is currently in its eighth phase. Two additional panels were launched in 2013 and 2024.

His scholarship has appeared in leading national and international journals including Journal of Applied Gerontology, SSM—Population Health, Journal of Aging and Social Policy, International Journal of Aging and Human Development, Journal of Cross-Cultural Gerontology, International Social Security Review, Asian Social Work and Policy Review, the Asia-Pacific Population Journal, and Economic and Political Weekly, among others.

He has authored, co-authored, and edited numerous influential books, including India’s Elderly: Burden or Challenge? (1999), Senior Citizens of India: Emerging Challenges and Concerns (2020), Elderly Care in India: Societal and State Responses (2018), Elderly Abuse and Neglect in India (2018), India’s Aged: Needs and Vulnerabilities (2017), and An Aging India: Perspectives, Prospects, and Policies (2003), Health of the Nation: Perspectives for a New India (2020), and Social Policies for the Elderly: Experiences from South Asia (2008). He also contributed significantly to research on international migration (along with K. C. Zachariah, Founder President, IIMAD) and act as editor of two series—India Migration Report and South Asia Migration Report

(Routledge) and lead series editor of Springer—South-South Migration. He is the Founding Editor-in-Chief of Migration and Development (Sage).