Chhatra Bahadur Pradhan<\/strong><\/p>\n Former President & Founder<\/strong><\/p>\n National Federation of Senior Citizens<\/strong><\/p>\n The rights given by the law are needed: Chhatra Bahadur Pradhan<\/strong><\/p>\n Senior citizens are isolated after their children go abroad: Chhatra Pradhan <\/strong><\/p>\n There are about 3 million senior citizens in Nepal, law enforcement is weak: <\/strong><\/p>\n Kathmandu. There is a house in the village. There are parents at home, but there are no children. Some have gone abroad for employment and some for higher education. Some parents in the village come to live with their children in the city, but they are alone at home all day. When the children go to work, they wait for the time to return. In recent times, this situation has become a destiny for Nepal. <\/p>\n In a conversation with Chhatra Bahadur Pradhan, former president of the National Federation of Senior Citizens of Nepal News Bank, he said that family loneliness has become one of the major social problems of senior citizens in Nepal in recent times. Pradhan said that with the increasing number of children going abroad from the village to the city and the capital in search of employment, higher education and opportunities, the parents at home are becoming lonely. <\/p>\n “Due to the migration from the village to the nearest city, from the city to the capital and from the capital to abroad, the parents are lonely at home,” said Pradhan, “Many senior citizens have to spend time alone after their children go out for work and higher education.” “<\/p>\n Earlier, the daily routine of the senior citizens in the village was linked to farming, cattle and household chores. If the children were in the village, they would also have the opportunity to help them and spend time with their grandchildren. However, after the family members left for work and studies, that social connection is weakening, says Pradhan. The situation of senior citizens living with their children in the city is also not much different. Pradhan says that since the children are busy with work or business, they have to spend a large part of the day alone at home. <\/p>\n “When we are in the village, we spend time with cattle, household chores and children,” he said, “But after coming to the city, the children go to work. After that, the parents have to stay alone at home.” Pradhan says that the distance between the elder members of the family and the children living abroad has also increased as the number of people going abroad for higher education and employment has increased in recent years. According to him, the number of people going abroad from Nepal to India and other neighboring countries as well as Europe and America for higher education and employment has increased. After going abroad, it is difficult to return to Nepal due to the life related to education and employment. <\/p>\n “It is difficult for those who go abroad for higher education to come back after reaching there,” Pradhan said, “This has had a direct impact on the lives of parents in Nepal.” Former president Pradhan said that he is comparatively fortunate in terms of children. He said that one of his sons is in the United States, while the other son has returned to Nepal after completing engineering studies and his daughter is also working in Nepal after studying medicine. However, he said that the condition of his family should not be taken as a representative situation of all senior citizens. According to him, many parents are now living a lonely life away from their children. <\/p>\n Pradhan says that financial assistance alone is not enough<\/p>\n as the children are abroad, it is easy for them to provide financial support to their parents, but the need of senior citizens is not just money. According to him, senior citizens need support from family, social participation and support in daily life. He said that even if financial support comes from children, the loneliness that arises when they are not together will not be solved by this. This is why he said that the issue of senior citizens should be seen not only in the scope of social security but also with the family and community. Pradhan accused the state of failing to create adequate social and institutional base for the senior citizens despite changing the family structure.<\/p>\n The Senior Citizens Act, 2063 provides for 50 per cent fare concession in public transport and at least two seats reserved and concession in health services. However, Pradhan said that these facilities have not been implemented effectively in practice. <\/p>\n “There is a provision in the law, but the facility has not been implemented except in a few cases,” he said, “The government should see whether the senior citizens get that right or not.” According to him, a procedure has also been made for the implementation of the Act. However, after the formulation of the law and procedure, it has not been effectively monitored. Pradhan said that the facilities given to the senior citizens are not the mercy or welfare of the state but the rights guaranteed by the law. “The state should not give mercy to the senior citizens, it is our right,” he said. <\/p>\n Loneliness and the responsibility of the state <\/p>\n The process of family members going out for employment and studies is not going to stop immediately. In such a situation, Pradhan says that the state should address the social security and family loneliness of the senior citizens living in Nepal as a separate issue. <\/p>\n According to him, from the local level to the federal government, there is a need to increase access to social participation, health services, public transport, recreation and community-based services for senior citizens. <\/p>\n “The problem cannot be solved just because the children go outside,” he said, “The state should think about how to make the life of the parents in Nepal easier after the children go out.” According to him, this problem will become more important due to the change in the family structure as the number of senior citizens is increasing in Nepal. <\/p>\n Therefore, Pradhan says that the responsibility of the state and the community should also be clarified rather than leaving the senior citizens only in the responsibility of the family. According to him, the challenge now is not only to provide facilities to the senior citizens, but also to prevent them from being socially isolated from their families. <\/p>\n Law Implementation Necessary <\/p>\n Pradhan said that the legal provisions made by the state for senior citizens have not been implemented effectively. He said that the trust of the senior citizens towards the state is weakening as the facilities provided in the Act related to senior citizens have not been implemented in practice. <\/p>\n According to Pradhan, there are about 3 million senior citizens in Nepal who have completed 60 years of age. Although Nepal has set the age of senior citizens at 60 years, developed countries generally define senior citizens after 65 years.<\/p>\n He said that the issue of providing social security allowance to senior citizens should be taken positively. He said that the amount of senior citizen allowance has also helped the elderly people who are financially weak to meet the basic needs of their family members and grandchildren. <\/p>\n Pradhan said that the senior citizen allowance being provided as social pension is an important social security programme for Nepal.<\/p>\n According to him, even though the initial Rs 100 was given, it made it possible for the senior citizens to buy basic items for their grandchildren. They took it as a reward rather than financial support. <\/p>\n However, Pradhan said that the facilities provided by the state for senior citizens should not be limited only to social security allowances. He said that the provision of exemptions for health treatment and transportation should be implemented effectively. He complained that the exemptions and facilities to be provided to the senior citizens as per the provisions of the Senior Citizens Act, 2063 are not implemented in practice. He suggested that the government should implement the provision of exemption for senior citizens by determining the government, non-government and private sector transport and health institutions. <\/p>\n “As senior citizens become senior citizens, the needs related to health and treatment increase,” Pradhan said, “Therefore, if the exemptions provided by the state are implemented in the law, the senior citizens can feel some relief.” According to Pradhan, there is a perception that senior citizens get exemptions in transport and health services. But in practice, they have increased their complaints against the state due to lack of such facilities. <\/p>\n He said that the facilities provided to senior citizens in countries including India are comparatively systematic. He said that he has come to know that there is a provision of giving discount to senior citizens on railway tickets in India and efforts are being made to provide such facilities in air service as well. <\/p>\n According to Pradhan, the facilities mentioned in the law have not been fully implemented even after a long time since the Act related to senior citizens was enacted in Nepal. The role of the local level is effective <\/p>\n Pradhan said that the local level is doing effective work in the construction of old age homes and shelters for the senior citizens. According to him, the construction of shelters and houses for the senior citizens is more than that of the federal and provincial governments. <\/p>\n He said that the issue related to senior citizens got more priority after the arrival of people’s representatives at the local level.<\/p>\n According to him, there will be pressure to address the problems of the senior citizens as the people’s representatives at the local level have direct relationship with their own community and family. <\/p>\n However, Pradhan said that the care of senior citizens should not be limited to old age homes. According to him, the concept of joint family is important in Nepal’s eastern culture, so it should be emphasized that the care of senior citizens should be done within the family. “To serve parents means to take care of one’s own children later, so it should be seen positively,” he said. Stating that the influence of the family system in the western countries is increasing in Nepali society in recent times, he said that the importance of joint family should be re-established. According to him, the family is also an important institution for the development of the individual and the role of the family in the care of the elderly should not be weakened. <\/p>\n Making a law is an agreement made by the state for someone<\/p>\n Pradhan said that once the government has made a law, it is the responsibility of the state to implement it. According to him, the state has promised to make laws for senior citizens and provide them with certain facilities. <\/p>\n “Making a law is an agreement made by the state for someone,” he said, “The law related to senior citizens is also an agreement made by the state with the senior citizens. The facilities mentioned in it should be implemented.” He said that the tendency to make laws but not implement them will increase mistrust towards the state. He said that if the state implements the facilities mentioned in the law, it will send a positive message to the government and the senior citizens will also feel relieved. <\/p>\n He believes that if the government prioritizes the implementation of concessions and facilities for the senior citizens, it will not only benefit immediately but also increase the trust of the state in the long run. Senior citizens should also be organized <\/p>\n Pradhan said that senior citizens should also raise their voice about their rights. He said that the government should not come on its own and provide all the facilities. <\/p>\n He said that the senior citizens should raise their voice before the government in a polite and systematic manner regarding their rights and legal provisions. He believes that an environment will be created for the state to address their demands if they continue to do so. “No one comes and speaks for us, we have to speak,” Pradhan said, “We should put these things in place and tell our views in a polite manner to the government.” Pradhan said that there is a need for effective implementation of health, transport and other legal facilities along with social security allowance for senior citizens in Nepal as the number of senior citizens in Nepal has reached around 30 lakh. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Chhatra Bahadur Pradhan Former President & Founder National Federation of Senior Citizens The rights given by the law are needed: Chhatra Bahadur Pradhan Senior citizens are isolated after their children go abroad: Chhatra Pradhan There are about 3 million senior citizens in Nepal, law enforcement is weak: Kathmandu. There is a house in the village.Continue reading “Senior citizens need legal rights, not charity and kindness: Chhatra Bahadur Pradhan”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":75573,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[147],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-109142","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-samachar-en"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/arthakhabar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/artha-khabar-banner-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arthakhabar.com\/ak_api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109142","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arthakhabar.com\/ak_api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arthakhabar.com\/ak_api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arthakhabar.com\/ak_api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=109142"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/arthakhabar.com\/ak_api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109142\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":109143,"href":"https:\/\/arthakhabar.com\/ak_api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109142\/revisions\/109143"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arthakhabar.com\/ak_api\/wp\/v2\/media\/75573"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arthakhabar.com\/ak_api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=109142"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arthakhabar.com\/ak_api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=109142"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arthakhabar.com\/ak_api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=109142"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}