Khotang, April 24

Elderly citizens of Khotang district have demanded old age home for people like them in the district headquarters.

Speaking at a programme organised by the Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare in Diktel today, the elderly citizens, said they would use the old age home as a place where they could meet their friends and share their experiences.

They said they could not go from one place to another to meet their friends and acquintances.

Similarly, elderly citizens have also demanded an increase in the social security allowance. The programme was attended by Joint Secretary at the ministry Shankar Prasad Pathak and Under Secretary Bharat Raj Sharma.

An elderly citizen, Dip Narayan Acharya, said that there was no place for the elders to rest and entertain themselves. “We need a place where we can meet friends and entertain ourselves,” he said.

Meanwhile, chief of the Women and Children’s Office, Goma Prasain, said residential old age homes were needed in the district.

She further added that the elderly who had their own family if they had relatives, but could be given shelter in such homes if they had no one to take care of them.

At the programme, human right activists Lok Nath Ghimire stressed on the role media should play to promote wellbeing of the elderly.