Senior citizens in Nawalpur get social allowance at home

By Gyanu Pangeni,Madhyabindu, May 10: A new initiative to distribute social security allowances door-to-door has been launched in Madhyabindu Municipality-14, located in the hilly region of Nawalparasi East (Nawalpur).

Elderly citizens in the area have found it much easier to receive their allowances at home instead of traveling to the bank. Due to the difficult terrain, senior citizens often struggled to reach the bank to collect their allowances. To address this, the ward office has started delivering the payments directly to beneficiaries’ homes, according to Ward Chairperson Min Bahadur Darlami.

Darlami said that the initiative aimed to make public service delivery more accessible and effective. “Senior citizens living in remote settlements faced great difficulty in reaching the bank to collect their allowance. To ease this, we coordinated with the bank to send staff and deliver the allowance directly to their homes,” he explained.

On the first day (Wednesday), allowances were distributed in the Rakachuli area. Likewise, the allowances were distributed in the village of Bhedawari on Thursday, he informed. Although the government’s allowance has been a lifeline for many, traveling to the bank has been burdensome for the elderly. Now that they receive it at home, they have expressed great relief and happiness.

Sher Bahadur Thapa Chhetri, 84, said he was overjoyed to receive the allowance at home: “I am 84 years old. It was very difficult for me to walk to the bank. Since now it is delivered right to us, the process has become much more convenient," he said.

Similarly, Shanti Darlami, 62, who used to stand in a long queue at the bank, expressed her excitement. “Sometimes we even slipped and got injured on the way. During winter, heavy rain or windstorms, it was hard to go out. Now that it comes to our homes, we have felt relieved and happy,” she said.

Ward Chairperson Darlami added that the decision to deliver allowances at home was made due to the challenging geography of the area. A total of 284 elderly residents in Ward No. 14 currently receive the allowance. The ward office plans to continue the distribution regularly on scheduled dates.