<i>When will she be old enough for elderly allowance?</i>

16 September 2009, 17:00 PM

Azibor Rahman, Jhenidah

“They say I am yet to reach the age for getting allowance for the elderly people,” centenarian Bokful Nesa said referring to the chairman and members of No-13 Umedpur union parishad under Shailkupa upazila in Jhenidah. “When will I be old enough to get the allowance?” she posed while talking to this correspondent yesterday. With blurred eyesight and frail body, Bokful Nesa, wife of late Asan Sardar of Roira village under Shailkupa upazila in Jhenidah, is struggling for existence as her only son, landless Rojdar Ali works on other people's land and maintains the family with great hardship. As this correspondent asked about her age, Bokful counted her fingers and said she is over five score (one hundred). “Several times I went to Sohrab member of the village and the UP office to include my mother's name in the list of allowance for elderly people but to no effect,” said Rojdar Ali. “We are not involved with any party and probably that's whymy mother's name has not been included in the list for allowance,” he regretted. The public representatives in the union parishad mockingly told us that my mother has not reached the age for getting elderly allowance, he added. Contacted, Sohrab Hossain, a member of No-13 Umedpur union parishad in Shailkupa upazila said over cell phone that Bokful gets 'other help' from the union parishad. Insisted, he said Bokful holds a VGF card.