Indian government warns of ageing population; says retirement age should rise, schools merge

FILE PHOTO: An elderly woman places her ink-marked finger on her lips after casting her vote outside a polling booth during the state assembly election in Delhi December 4, 2013. REUTERS/Anindito Mukherjee/File Photo

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - The Indian government on Thursday warned in a study that its population is going to start to age and it needs to be prepared to merge schools and raise the retirement age.

While India should be set to benefit from the so-called "demographic dividend" over the next decade as its working population is set to increase by about 9.7 million a year between 2021-31, that will quickly fade as the nation's fertility rate plunges below replacement level.