It is time to promote the concept of quality shelter homes in recognition of the immense contribution of the elderly to the country

With the fast changing social structures and gradual erosion of family values, an increasing number of elderly people are being pushed into old age homes, posing an immense challenge in taking care of them. There are today about 141 elderly homes, mostly run by charitable organisations, in 64 districts of the country, where about 1,600 people have found shelter. There would have been many times more people living outside their homes if only there were more of such shelter homes to accommodate them. In Nepal, people 60 years or above make up the elderly citizens. Due to the increasing life expectancy, this population bracket has been growing in the country. A study conducted by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has shown that senior citizens who take refuge in the shelter homes are mostly victims of familial, psychological and psychological problems, and illness. This means, unlike in the developed world, they are not there by choice to spend the remaining part of their life with fellow citizens. Rather they would love to be in the midst of their family members if they could. Their life in the shelter homes is far from pleasant, with many suffering from disability due to old age, poor health and nutrition, lack of affection and loneliness.

Traditionally, the government has had little role to play in looking after the elderly people, who account for about 8 per cent of the Nepali population. The family members have always taken care of the elderly in the family, so it never occurred to the government it had a duty to look after them in old age. Even today, most of the elderly parents still live with their married sons. The sons are duty-bound by societal norms to look after their parents on reaching old age. Stigma is attached to those who don’t. But with greater mobility of the young people for jobs and a better life, both inside and outside the country, and the fast depleting socio-cultural value system, especially in the urban areas, taking care of the people in their old age is posing a burden for the family, society and country. With millions of youths working abroad to support their family back home, one can easily visualise the plight of the elderly at a time when they should have been taken good care of.

One of the basic principles of human rights, according to the NHRC, is that each senior citizen should have the right to live in his/her own home while any one with no kin to assist him/her should be cared for by the government. One reason why ageing parents are left behind to fend for themselves is because the new generation does not feel any responsibility towards them. They do not understand or value the immense sacrifices parents make for their proper upbringing. Thus it is necessary to emphasise moral education in the school curriculum to teach the students to respect and love their parents. There should also be advocacy in society for better care and comfort of the elderly. As for the government, it is time to promote the concept of quality shelter homes, where the elderly can while away their time in comfort, in recognition of their immense contribution to the country’s development in whatever way they could. This should be regulated by law.

Take legal action

Sixty-year-old Lakshima Apagain of Tamakoshi Rural Municipality recently lodged a complaint at the Dolakha District Headquarters in Charikot against the ward chair and others for cutting off government facilities to her and her family. The ward chair, head teacher of Mahendra Secondary School, and local intellectuals decided to block the government facilities to her family on March 29, following her refusal to donate her land for the construction of a rural road. Apagain has, in her complaint, stated that the road is being built without any technical design and budget estimates. Dolakha Assistant CDO Aulakh Bahadur Ale has said he would launch an enquiry on it. It is shocking to hear that an elected official and locals should decide to cut off government services to the Apagain family simply because she refused to donate her land for the rural road. An elected official is supposed to provide government facilities to all without any bias. The ward chair and the locals have no right to curtail the facilities a citizen is entitled to. Also, nobody can force a person to donate his/her property without informed consent. The administration must take action against the ward chair.