SCEP for early approval of Senior Citizens Bill

Senior Citizens Foundation of Pakistan (SCFP) has expressed its dissatisfaction over the Federal or provincial government's failure to enact or approve Senior Citizens Bill and highlighted concerns over poor health facilities for senior citizens that constitute now well over ten million in the population of Pakistan. SCFP members expressed their dissatisfaction at a specially convened meeting of DHA and Cantt Chapter Lahore chaired by the Vice President Brigadier Khurshid Ghias Ahmed (Retd).
"The Senior Citizens Bill has been pending with the Federal government for the last eight years and has been tossed around from one department to another and between the Cabinet and the Parliamentary committees," said Tariq Bucha, Secretary Information of the Chapter.
He further added that after devolution the Federal government seems to have absolved itself of the responsibility towards the elderly and like other issues passes this matter to the provincial government. He said the Federal government despite devolution could have easily included the welfare of the elderly by including them in the very successful government scheme known as the Benazir Income Support Programme. He said that SCFP DHA & Cantt.
Chapter had submitted the draft bill containing a framework for the welfare of senior citizens including better health facilities, old age benefits and financial help both to the Federal government and subsequently to the Government of Punjab as well but despite the fact that Punjab government is undertaking lot of effective welfare programmes, the welfare of the elderly has escaped their attention or may be denied priority.
Bucha further added that poor health care for the Senior citizens seemed the second most important issue during the meeting. Very expensive medication and their unavailability, separate counters and even separate hospitals for greater care of senior citizens were some of the matters that were also discussed in detail.
The Secretary General SCFP DHA and Cantt Chapter, Abdul Majeed Sandhila presented three resolutions to the executive body which passed these unanimously urging the Punjab government for an early enactment of Senior Citizens Bill to institutionalise arrangement for the welfare of senior citizens, devise ways to control exorbitant increase in prices of items of common use and take effective corrective action through price regulation and financial compensation particularly for fixed income groups and include the elderly in all their present and future welfare schemes.