Government paves way for tabling bill to amend Senior Citizens Act in Parliament

Kathmandu, January 3 

The government has approved the bill to amend the Senior Citizens Act, paving the way for the bill to be tabled in the federal Parliament.

As per the bill, people should deposit a designated proportion of their monthly salary and income in the bank accounts of their parents. This provision is applicable to all job holders of private, public or international organisations or pension holders, said Minister of Communications and Information Technology Gokul Baskota today.

People who are self-employed or run their own businesses or people with other sources of income have to deposit a designated proportion of their annual income in the bank account of their parents.

The amount should be deposited even if the persons concerned do not live with their parents following family partition. If parents are living together, the amount should be deposited in their joint account; if they have separated, the amount should be deposited in the bank account of either mother or father.

Another provision in the bill bars abusing, humiliating or misleading senior citizens. No one can grab property registered in the name of senior citizens by misleading or luring them. The penalty amount collected from the violator of this act will be deposited in the bank account of his/her parents.

“The main objective of this bill is to make the lives of senior citizens easier and secure,” said Baskota.

The Cabinet has also approved the bill to amend the Citizen’s Investment Trust Act.  The bill envisages changing shareholding patterns and authorised capital of the fund. The authorised capital of the fund has been set at Rs 8 billion. This amount will be divided into 80 million units of shares with face value of Rs 100 each. The fund’s paid-up capital will be three billion rupees.

After this shareholding reshuffle, Nepal government will have 23.34 per cent, Rastriya Beema Sansthan 31.55 per cent, Nepal Stock Exchange Limited 10 per cent, banks and financial institutions 15.11 per cent and general public 20 per cent stakes.