National Human Rights Commission chairman Mizanur Rahman on Sunday urged
politicians to have some regard for the common people while showing
respect to the foreign guests.
He said, ‘We have high regard for foreign guests while we should also
show due respect to the general people and do politics for their
welfare.’
He made the call at a national seminar on ‘the impact of social and income security for older people at household level’.
HelpAge International and Human Development Research Centre organised
the programme at Mahbub Kabir Memorial Hall of Bangladesh Institute of
Administration and Management.
Addressing the event as chief guest, the NHRC chairman said if brutality
and violence become the means of politics, safety and security of
people vanish.
He requested politicians and political parties to give up violence.
He informed the programme that the NHRC with the help of Law Commission
finalised the draft Anti Discrimination Law to protect people of this
country from all kinds of discrimination.
He said they also proposed that the Election Commission introduce a
separate row for elderly people during election so that they could vote
easily but the EC was yet to respond.
Mizanur Rahman called on all government ministries and departments to
declare elderly people as the senior citizens and urged the government
to take immediate initiatives in this regard.
Human Development Research Centre chief adviser and economist Professor
Abul Barakat urged the government to launch old age allowance for each
and every eligible elderly person.
He said in the country’s the population the number of people of over 60
years of age would increase by 20.2 per cent in 2051 though according to
the population census of 2011 puts it at 6.5 per cent of the total
population.
Professor Abul Barakat said at present there is one elderly person in
every 15 people in Bangladesh and it would be one in every five by 2051.
He demanded increase in the amount of existing old age allowance from
Tk 300 per month to Tk 1000 and adjust this with inflation.
Abul Barakat said the current allowance was too inadequate as urban
poverty was higher than rural poverty due to the so-called urbanisation.
Journalist Abed Khan, HelpAge international South Asia regional director
Peter McGeachie, country director Nirjharinee Hasan, Department of
Social Services additional director Syeda Ferdous Akhter also spoke at
the programme. (source)