Senior citizens in the district are facing difficulties collecting their social security allowance as they are compelled to make a long journey to banks for the money.

 

Two senior citizens from Pakhribas Municipality died on their way to collect the allowance a few months ago.

Eighty-year-old Mohanlal Adhikari died 13 kilometres away from his home while he was on his way to Janata Bank in Pakhribas bazaar to receive the allowance, local Krishna Govinda Dhamala said. “Elderly citizens are having a hard time getting their hands on the allowance,” he said.

 

District Chairman of Association of Senior Citizens Ram Bahadur Shrestha accused authorities of not paying attention to the matter though senior citizens are facing problems while collecting allowance. “Nanda Bahadur Ganchaki, 84, of Pakhribas-2 died while going to the bazaar to get allowance,” said another senior citizen, Gorakh Bahadur Pithakhote. He urged the government to ease the allowance collection process. “The service provided by the government for the elderly like us is just dismal,” Pithakhote said.

 

As some senior citizens are found waiting in line for allowance with the help of their walking sticks, other have to be carried all the way to the bank. Local Ward Citizen Forum Coordinator Dhanamaya Rai said, “They are expending more money than what they get as allowance.”

 

The government has been providing Rs 1, 000 a month to each senior citizen as allowance. Executive Officer of Pakhribas Municipality Narayan Neupane said they hand out the allowance every four months. “We are unable to provide the allowance at people’s doorstep due to lack of human resources,” he said.

 

Local Development Officer Ganesh Prasad Dahal agreed that there are problems in distributing allowance to the senior citizens in the district. “Since there were irregularities while distributing the allowance in some districts, we give the amount only to the concerned person,” he said, admitting to the fact that the allowance distribution process is not practical. There are 1,073 senior citizens in Pakhribas and Dhankuta Municipalities.