Random donations, gifts prohibited at elderly home

Kathmandu, August 27

Social Welfare Council has prohibited people from making donations directly to the elderly people sheltering at Social Welfare Centre Elderly Home, Gaushala.

It said the act of making random donations to the elderly had some adverse consequences.

“Gifts and donations provided by individuals and organisations have been misused by the elderly people. Such practice is disturbing the peace and harmony in the elderly home and has created disciplinary issues among the senior citizens,” said Manoj Kumar Basnet, chief executive of Social Welfare Centre Elderly Home.

He also informed that the Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare had passed a work plan for Social Welfare Centre Elderly Home on August 18. “To maintain order and discipline in the ashram, the work plan has been implemented. Now if anyone wants to provide gift or donation, they should first contact the concerned person in our office. They can’t provide gifts or make donations directly to the elderly people,” Basnet said.

Krishna Kadel, chief administrator of Social Welfare Centre Elderly Home, opined that gifts provided to the elderly people had given rise to violence inside the old age home. “In most cases, elderly people take gifts to the road to sell them, so we request people to contact the concerned authority before providing gifts or making donations here,” he added.

There are 190 elderly people currently residing in the elderly home that can house up to 320 people, according to Kadel. He added that the facility also hired nurses to provide medical services to the elderly people.