Senior citizens battle intense heat to receive national ID

By Laxman Paudel, Bhairahawa, June 19:  Senior citizens have faced huge challenges in obtaining national identity cards during the intense heat of summer.

The temperature of Bhairahawa has been above 42 degrees Celsius for the past few days, and senior citizens have been standing in serpentine queues at the District Administration Office to apply for national identity cards.

Following the government’s mandate to require national identity cards for social security allowances, the district administration office has been overwhelmed with elderly individuals applying for national identity cards.

Chumkala Basyal, who came from Devdaha to make her 90-year-old father’s national identity card, said that senior citizens face a lot of difficulties while standing in line for hours braving the scorching heat. 

She suggested that starting the process of issuing identity cards from the ward office or distributing security allowances through citizenship documents would have been more effective.

The number of service seekers has increased at the District Administration Office for the past few weeks. 

Ram Chandra Aryal, Assistant Chief District Officer, said that the service starts at 8:00 am. 

Although the District Administration Office, Rupandehi, has worked for the convenience of the service seekers, senior citizens aged above 90 years have been waiting for their turn in the scorching heat. 

Some service seekers reached the District Administration Office at 7: 00 am, hoping they would get service in time, but few had to return home as they lacked needed documents, due to the lack of proper information.

Tirtha Raj Poudel, a resident of Tilottama Municipality-2, said a few senior citizens fainted due to excessive heat.Poudel expressed his frustration, stating that the government has implemented programmes that are inconvenient for the elderly despite authority claims that the programme was brought for their benefit.

Uma Kafle, former Deputy Mayor of Siddharthanagar Municipality, said that national identity cards need to be made in coordination with the local government for the convenience of senior citizens. 

More than 350 identity cards are issued daily from the District Administration Office and the Area Administration Office.

However, the number of identity card makers has increased after preparations were made to provide social security allowance to all senior citizens through national identity cards by July/August. It appears imperative for the government to prioritise the issuance of identity cards to aid senior citizens.