KATHMANDU, MARCH 14

Senior citizens are forced to take refuge in old age homes due to lack of love, care, and respect from their family members, said the National Human Rights Commission.

According to the latest annual report published by the rights body, the tendency of taking senior citizens as burden and putting them in old age homes as they become financially, physically and mentally weak has increased.

Amid the increasing influence of modernisation and western culture, the ancient tradition and culture of respecting senior citizens is giving way to anomalies. 'In addition to this, the generation gap is increasing. As Nepali society undergoes change from joint family to nuclear family, senior citizens have to bear the brunt of its negative impact. They are forced to spend a segregated life and are subjected to insult and abuse, leading to expulsion from home,' the report said.

As per the NHRC, disintegration of the family is also increasing rapidly owing to the influence of western culture, migration, and foreign employment, among others.

With poor mental and physical condition of senior citizens due to senescence, serious problems are being seen in their care. As a result, it is crucial for stakeholders to address the human rights of senior citizens.

In the fiscal 2020-21, the NHRC conducted various programmes related to the rights of senior citizens in various districts, including Khotang, Dhankuta, Sunsari, Dhanusha, Syangja, Kathmandu.

It also carried out study and monitoring with a view to addressing the rights of those living in old age homes and day care centres.

'The monitoring showed that senior citizens were being left at old age homes due to family dispute and disintegration, decline in moral education in society, lack of awareness, lack of sense of responsibility, inter-generational conflict, quest of solitude and religious sites, and voluntary choice, among others.

Majority of senior citizens in old age homes have been scourged by at least one of the problems - familial, psychological, and social, besides physical frailty,' it said.

Based on facts collected by the NHRC, the government's decision to providing concession to elderly citizens in public transport and the health sector has not been implemented.

A version of this article appears in the print on March 15, 2021, of The Himalayan Times.