The government is going to give around 13 million older people, aged 60 years or above, senior citizen status, which will entitle them to different privileges.
Published : 26 Nov 2014, 10:31 PM
President M Abdul Hamid will announce the status at a function at Osmani Memorial Auditorium in Dhaka on Thursday, marking the International Day of Older Persons.
The senior citizens will get different services and facilities including health, residence and transport at lower costs and on a priority basis.
The government on Nov 17, 2013 approved the draft of the National Policy on Older Persons determining the age of older people at 60 years.
“Many older people have to face neglect. No work has been done for them at the government level before,” the Ministry of Social Welfare’s Joint Secretary Md Hossain Mollah said, speaking to bdnews24.com on Wednesday
“That’s why the government wants to do something for them.”
He, however, said a programme began in 1996 under which 1.24 million elderly people were given a monthly allowance of Tk 100 each.