Elderly people's rights must be ensured
Roundtable told
The society, alongside the government, must come forward to ensure elderly people's rights so that they can lead dignified lives both socially and economically, said speakers at a roundtable yesterday.
Since the number of elderly people, currently the population's eight percent, will double soon, the state must provide more social safety net programmes to ensure their rights in public-private sectors, including healthcare centres and transportation, they said.
The Bangla daily Prothom Alo and Resource Integration Center (RIC), working for elderly people, organised the roundtable, “Long life and future prosperity”, at the daily's conference room in the capital.
Neglected by the family, society and state, elderly people are being deprived of their basic rights and counting their days without any proper treatment, the speakers said.
They urged the government to formulate an effective policy to ensure elderly people's rights, keeping some provisions to provide senior citizen certificates, health and social insurances etc.
National Prof MR Khan said elderly people must be organised to raise their demands and the affluent should contribute, with the government, to assist them.
Planning Commission Member Prof Shamsul Alam laid emphasis on integrating a lesson about elderly people in academic curriculums.
The daily's Associate Editor Abdul Quayum moderated the roundtable while DGHS Director General Prof Khandaker Shefayet Ullah also spoke on the occasion.
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