CASE STUDY
Rehmat Bibi, 76, is all alone
in this world and selling handmade wood baskets for food. Although the old
widow has a daughter, she lives with her husband.
She selling handmade wood
baskets in this camp for over 20 years as my three sons married and leaves him
alone.
Rehmat bibi said,
“I have no family support and did not want to beg,”
She collects the river wood
from very remote area of river chanab early in the morning and made them basket
and sell them in Multan city. The old lady allows every customer to handmade
wood baskets, and charges a lower price than other vendors beside her on the
road.
Rehmat Bibi, is also witty and
smart and knows about the financial crunch the country faces and the
degenerating affairs of governance. There is no regular income. It fluctuates
like the price of dollar against rupee. But she does manage to make Rs200 to
Rs300, she claimed.
Rehmat Bibi, is one of
hundreds of thousands of senior citizens who still work well beyond their
capacity to make their ends meet. To date, there has been no official policy
ever introduced by the federal government to address the concerns of the old
people in the country.
According to DASE Foundation
Pakistan working on social protection of the old people who are more than 60
years of age form seven per cent of the total population of the country. They are
numbered over 10.2 million almost 52 per cent of this old age population in
Pakistan are women while 48 per cent are men. However, most of the senior
citizens who are women are widows.
They have no one to look after
their health issues, food and other economic needs. Federal government has no
major program for the protection of old age people and they also had to beg in
the markets or were neglected by their family members.
A Senior Citizens’ Protection
Bill is still pending with the government since 2007 in this situation DASE
Foundation Pakistan is demanding the government to approve it since the bill
has clauses in which government is expected to provide protection (economic,
social and health) claimed the official of the non-governmental body.
On the other hand, that till
the bill is approved there exists no strong social protection system for
elderly people like Rehmat Bibi who are left on the mercy of the unsociable
system.