PESHAWAR: A law meant to provide certain privileges to around 2.8 million senior citizens of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa could not be implemented during the last five years as the provincial government and its bureaucracy have no interest to facilitate the elderly people of the society, according to sources.

The previous PTI government had passed The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Senior Citizen Act, 2014 for the wellbeing, comfort and dignity of the senior citizens. The law propagated with great pomp and show on social media that PTI was taking care of senior citizens of the society.

“So far no serious efforts have been made by the provincial government to ensure the privileges to the senior citizens as per law,” said sources.

Act was passed in 2014 but elderly people still await privileges

Section 9 (3) of the Act states: “The senior citizens shall be allowed the following privileges on the basis of senior citizen card: free of charge entry to public museums, libraries, parks and recreation facilities; financial supports to deserving senior citizens; separate counters for senior citizens in hospitals; concession in medical and medicine charges; separate medical wards; and membership of organization of senior citizens corps.”

However, sources said that none of those privileges were provided to the senior citizens.

The law also states that a senior citizen may, on completion of his 60 years of age, apply for the senior citizen card aimed at ensuring the privileges mentioned in the law.

A year ago, sources said, the social welfare department had sought forms for registration and making the senior citizen cards. Over 0.7 million senior citizens had applied for the cards though according to Nadra data there were 2.8 million elderly people in the settled districts of the province.

However, the social welfare department failed to make senior citizen cards owing to shortage of funds during the previous one year, sources said.

A senior official of the social welfare department, when contacted for comments, said that estimated cost for making senior citizen cards was in hundreds of millions while the available budget with the department was just Rs10 million. He said that estimated cost of per card was Rs35 to Rs130.

“Instead of making special card, now the department is contemplating to approach Nadra for putting an insignia on the national identity cards of the senior citizens,” said the official. He said that the senior citizen committee set up a sub-committee to look into the process of singing memorandum of understanding between Nadra and social welfare department.

The provincial government has also failed to establish senior citizens welfare fund in violation of section 10 of the law, which states: “There shall be established a fund to be known as the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Senior Citizens Welfare Fund, consisting of all grants, allocations made by the federal government or government; donations, endowments, contributions made by the private individual organisations within country and abroad etc.”

Sources said that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Senior Citizens Welfare Council, set up under the law in 2016, was literally dysfunctional. The minister of social welfare department is chairperson of the council. Its members include two MPAs; secretaries of different departments including health, planning and development, finance, local government; commissioner of Peshawar division; and four representatives -- two from senior citizen organisations and two from other non-governmental organisations.

Mian Shakir Hussain Baba, a member of council, told Dawn that no one in the government was serious to reduce the problems of the senior citizens though everyone had elderly father and mother.

According to the law, he said, the council should meet quarterly to discuss issues regarding implementation of the law. “However during the last five years, the council held only four meetings,” he added.

Secondly, he said, the secretaries of several departments were avoiding the council meeting rather they sent junior most officers of the respective departments who had no interest in welfare of elderly people.

Under the law, the senior citizens welfare council has many responsibilities including publishing reports and other material for guidance and welfare of senior citizens; granting senior citizens awards in the fields of their expertise; creating awareness among people through organising seminars, workshops, conferences and use of mass media; establishing senior citizens homes to accommodate homeless, deserted and indigent senior citizens; and encouraging to setup organisation of senior citizen corps for utilisation of their potential for service activities and national development.

Published in Dawn, June 24th, 2019