Cabinet okays draft policy on elderly people

The cabinet yesterday approved the draft of the "National Policy on Elderly People 2013" recognising those aged 60 and above as "senior citizens" of the country and ensure their rights and welfare.
The approval came from the weekly meeting of the cabinet at Bangladesh Secretariat with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair.
The policy highlights ensuring dignified, poverty-free, healthy and safe social life for the elderly people providing them with ID cards, health cards, reserved seats in buses, trains, steamers, mono rails and gradually providing tickets at reduced rates, establishing old homes, providing health access vouchers, health service cards, savings schemes, encouraging private initiative towards ensuring aged persons' welfare alongside government initiatives while the nurses would be trained to serve them.
Briefing reporters after the meeting, Cabinet Secretary M Musharraf Hossain Bhuiyan said to monitor the implementation of the policy there would be a national committee, headed by the social welfare minister, in addition to various district, upazila, union, pourasava and ward-level committees.
He also said the policy would be updated from time to time.
The cabinet also gave the final approval to the draft of the "International Mother Language Institute (amendment) Bill, 2013" subject to vetting of the law ministry aimed at turning the institute as a "B category" entity of the Unesco.
With the proposed amendment, he said a representative of the director general of the Unesco would be incorporated in the 21-member board of the institute, which would strengthen the cooperation between the two organisations.
The institute would be a separate legal entity owned by Bangladesh, which could use the logo of the Unesco and its name while the Unesco would provide technical, expertise and training assistance.