Although the government decided to ensure 50 percent concession on transportation fare for senior citizens five months ago, the decision is yet to come into the implementation. "12 senior citizen, aged from 60-102 have already passed away during the span of 29 months struggle. But it has not broken us. We will be pressing to be heard someday by continuing our protest," he said. Among the issues raised by the elderly people, they are also pressing to recognize people above 60 years as senior citizen by the country. As per the prevalent law, people above 70 years are considered senior citizen. Likewise, they are also demanding for the hike of monthly allowance for senior citizen being provided by the government as allowance from Rs 500 to Rs 3,000, free medical treatment in government hospitals and 50 per cent discount at the private. Supreme Court's verdict on April 7, 2011 had endorsed the Clause 9 (2) of the Senior Citizen Act, 2063 that ensures 50 per cent discount in public transport for the senior citizen. But Bhakta Bahadur Basnet, 84, begs to differ. "We have been staging the sit-in protest, sticking to our eight-point demand, since March 7, 2013. We want to secure our facilities from the government and strict monitoring of them for implementation. We are not even getting 50 percent discount in the public transport," he said adding "Despite the Supreme Court's verdict and frequent visit on the Deputy Prime Minister, various ministers and leaders of many political parties, not even our single demand has been fulfilled nor has a single verdict been implemented." According to the latest census, senior citizens (aged 60 and above) comprise around 2.2 million of the total population in the country. RSS
