BALEWA, APRIL 25
Bishwonath Regmi, 74, of Baglung Municipality had to wait for hours in queue while visiting Dhaulagiri Zonal Hospital.
Though it is said that senior citizens do not have to stay in line to wait for their turn at the hospital to avail service, hospital staffers insulted Regmi and made him stand in queue.
Saying although there is a provision of 50 per cent concession to senior citizens while travelling in public vehicles, no one has implemented it, senior citizen Regmi complained that although the state has made legal arrangements, the senior citizens are deprived of such facilities due to lack of sensitivity of bodies concerned towards senior citizens' rights. At an interaction organised by the National Human Rights Commission in Baglung, senior citizens participating in the programme, shared they were neglected by all.
They complained about the discrimination they were facing while receiving treatment through insurance scheme at public places.
Secretary of Senior Citizens Association Harilal Subedi said there was no programme to honour senior citizens, adding that they had failed to organise some of the programmes after the local levels did not provide information about the budget allocated for senior citizens.
Employees did not respond when asked about the budget and programme, he said, adding "We have become burden on society."
Bishwanath Regmi, a local of Ward 3 complained that they had been deprived of health insurance and other facilities meant for senior citizens. "I am, till date, deprived of health insurance and concession in public transport given to senior citizens," he complained, adding that though the schemes targeing older people were good, its implementation was still awaited. "Our rights are just confined to paper."
According to civil society leader Kaji Gaunle Shrestha people in the rural areas are even not aware of the rights given to them by the law.
Advocacy for implementation of legal rights of senior citizens sometimes triggered a tussle among the implementing bodies and target groups.
They expressed their grievances during discussions on the rights of senior citizens. Commission of Senior Citizens' Chief Kalpana Nepal, human rights activist Sharmila Thapa, CDO Ramesh Dhakal and SP Dayanidhi Gyawali, among others, apprised about facilities meant for senior citizens.
A version of this article appears in the print on April 26, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.
