PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Deputy Speaker Mehmood Jan has said all senior citizens in the province will get Sehat Insaf cards by December 2019.

Talking to a group of senior citizens at his office here on Thursday, he said that implementation of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Senior Citizens Act was top priority of the government, according to a statement.

MPAs Zafar Azam, Qalandar Lodhi, Rehana Ismail, Madiha Nazir and Humaira besides officials of social welfare department also attended the meeting.

The participants of the meeting said that 1 October was observed as international day of older persons across the world to recognise status of senior citizens in the society.

“It is our tradition and moral duty to promote and protect the rights of older people,” said the deputy speaker.

He said that by December 2019, all senior citizens would get Sehat Insaf cards. He added that implementation of senior citizen law was top priority of the government.

Speaking on the occasion, Mohammad Idrees Khan, the secretary of social welfare, special education and women empowerment department, said that around 800,000 older people had already applied for senior citizen cards.

He said that the department was coordinating with other departments for issuance of the cards. He said that social welfare department had suggested establishment of a senior citizens facilitation centre in Peshawar.

“This centre will act as a first platform where older people can come at share their issues,” he added.

Zahoor Ahmed, member of senior citizens welfare council, said that government should expedite implementation of the relevant law. He said that the council had proposed to meet every quarter, however, it only met four times during the past five years.

“The government, especially social welfare department, should play proactive role to resolve these issues on priority basis,” said Mr Ahmed.

Published in Dawn, October 4th, 2019