KATHMANDU, DECEMBER 26

President Bidhya Devi Bhandari has extended hearty best wishes for good health, longevity, and dignified life of all the senior citizens on the occasion of the Second National Senior Citizens Day.

Extending a message of best wishes today, the headof-the-state wished this to all Nepali senior citizens in the country and abroad.

'I heartily urge one and all to contribute from their respective quarters for making the life of senior citizens comfortable and respectable, with the expectation that the Day today would inspire all to internalise the importance of the ideal family based on Eastern culture guided by the principle of 'Matri devo bhava, Pitri devo bhava', which sees the mother and father as God,' President Bhandari said.

It is stated in the president's message that senior citizens, who are cognisant of knowledge, skills and experience, are the beacon of motivation and knowledge for us, and that today's youth should be able to learn life skills from the experience and knowledge that elder persons have learnt through life-long struggle and experience.

The head-of-the-state stressed the need for collective efforts from the family, society, and the state to create an enabling environment to transfer the fountain of experience and knowledge held by senior citizens to the new generation.

'The members of the family, society, organisations and the three tiers of the government should collaborate in a coordinated manner for making the lives of senior citizens dignified and comfortable,' reads the president's message.

She also directed all the concerned sides to further expand and implement the concessions and facilities that the Government of Nepal has provided to senior citizens in various sectors of public services, including health and transport sectors, in an effective way.

The National Senior Citizens Day is marked on the 11th day of the Nepali month of Paush every year in commemoration of the day wherein the state started distributing social security allowance to senior citizens. The government started distributing social security allowance to senior citizens on 26 December 1994.

This year too, the National Senior Citizens Day is being celebrated with the slogan, 'Our Common Concern: Rights of Senior Citizens' by organising various programmes.

A version of this article appears in the print on December 27, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.