Speakers at a view-sharing meeting in Rajshahi Tuesday said family and social harmony is very important for ensuring well-being of the elderly people.
They viewed that many people become vulnerable when they are in their old ages and face multifarious problems due to various reasons. Apart from this, the elderly people are subjected to repression and oppression in many cases especially during natural calamities.
To mitigate the odd situation, the society should take the responsibility of protecting them as there is no way to discard their contribution to the field of cultural, economical and political aspects of the country.
Anagrasar Samaj Unnayan Sangstha (ASUS) organised the programme titled “National Elderly Policy-2013” at Safawang conference hall in association with HelpAge International.
Local unit Coordinator of Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust (BLAST) Advocate Abdus Samad addressed the discussion as the chief guest with ASUS Executive Director Raj Kumar Shaw in the chair.
General Secretary of Rajshahi Rakkha Sangram Parishad Jamat Khan, Executive Director of Sedaipo Syed Salah Uddin, Executive Director of ADF Habibur Rahman and ASUS Programme Officers Mahbubul Alam and Fazlul Karim, also spoke.
The discussants expressed their gratitude to the government for enacting the national policy on elderly persons and called for enforcement of the policy so that the target group can derive maximum benefits out of it.
On the contrary, they said if every son and daughter pays due respect to their parents no aged people would face an unexpected condition. Time has come to declare them as senior citizens or golden citizens for acknowledging their nation-building contribution. All conscious people especially the policy makers should obviously feel the importance, they added. -BSS, Rajshahi
