No country for the elderly: Senior Citizens Centre closed since June despite funds

Employees claim officials in the Social Welfare Department want to embezzle money.

PESHAWAR:

The government-run Senior Citizens Home (SCH) in the city has been closed for the past three months due to an alleged lack of funds, leaving the elderly to fend for themselves.

The home was inaugurated on October 22, 2012 by the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Social Welfare Department under the Annual Development Programme.

The SCH provided shelter, medical treatment, food, clothing and recreational facilities to citizens above the age of 60. In addition, the SCH was meant to work for the welfare and rehabilitation of older adults who were homeless, childless or had no means of providing for themselves.

According to an official of the SCH, the centre registered and served over 78 senior citizens since its inauguration. For at least nine of those, the centre was home; the others visited it in the morning to utilise its various facilities.

The official, who wished to remain unnamed, said eight government employees between BPS-1 and BPS-16 were serving at the SCH, which had a budget of Rs3.8 million.

Another SCH employee requesting anonymity told The Express Tribune the government had released Rs1.9 million for the centre on August 9 while the second instalment of Rs1.9 million would be released in January 2014.

“The centre has enough money at the moment to run smoothly but the senior officials at the Social Welfare Department are not interested in doing that. They only want to pocket the money as funds for the centre are not audited,” he claimed.

“SCH’s closure since June has not only affected residents but also the employees. The elderly who used to live here now lives under miserable conditions on the streets and in mosques,” shared the employee.

He demanded the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf-led government take notice of the matter and reopen the SCH at once since the centre’s budget had been released but is not being put to use. If the government does not take action, officials at the Social Welfare Department will embezzle funds meant for the actual welfare of older adults, argued the SCH employee.

On the other hand, Social Welfare Department Deputy Director Bashir Khan admitted the SCH had been closed since June but insisted the closure was temporary and it would reopen soon.

“We decided to close it because of mismanagement by the centre’s administration,” claimed Khan.

“We are not satisfied with the current location of the SCH and the standard of facilities being provided which is why we have shut down. We are searching for a suitable place for the centre at the Khyber Teaching Hospital so proper facilities are available for the elderly,” said Khan.

The deputy director maintained the budget for the project’s extension has not been released yet. Once it is, the SCH will be shifted and opened in a better place with legal, psychological and medical treatment facilities available close by, said Khan.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 9^th, 2013.