KAILALI: ELDERLY people in the district are deprived of allowance being provided by the government for their treatment due to bureaucratic hassles.

Chief of the Women and Children Office (WCO) in the district Hari Priya Bam said many elderly people were deprived of the allowance as they were compelled to visit the office and go through a long process to receive the amount.

The government provides Rs 2,000 yearly for every elderly citizen above 65 for their treatment through the concerned WCO on the basis of service seekers’ application with bills of medical expenses and recommendation of the concerned VDC or municipality. The provision was introduced in 2003.

According to the WCO, only 19 elderly people availed of the service last fiscal year.

Bam said a total of 325 elderly people availed of the service for the past nine years and of Rs 800,000 released for the allowance over the years, around 650,000 was spent so far.

She said a huge amount of budget released for the allowance remained unused every year as few elderly people visited the office for the amount.

However, the service seekers complained that they have not been informed of the service. “We are unaware about the process to get the allowance,” said Radhika Air of Dhangadi VDC-4. Many service seekers in the say it is the responsibility of concerned VDC and municipality to inform them of the service.

Bam claimed local people were informed of the service through various programmes and VDC secretaries.

Source: Kathmandu Post, December 21, 2012

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