GUWAHATI, July 21 � The executive committee of the Assam Senior Citizens� Association in its meeting held on July 17 last with the former Vice-Chancellor of Dibrugarh University in the chair reiterated the demand for the constitution of the State Council for Senior Citizens and for opening of special geriatric wards in the medical colleges, civil hospitals and the central primary health centres of the State.
The committee also urged the State Government to make available all the facilities as being promised in the National Policy for Elderly Persons. The general secretary of the association DN Chakravartty in his report disclosed that about twenty district and subdivisional association in the State besides several primary associations had been given affiliation by the central body. Phulen Saharia, Narendra Nath Sarma, Harendra Nath Thakur, Sardar Kan Singh, Tabiul Hussain, Prafulla Kumar Mahanta, Jiba Kanta Gogoi, Gajneswar Payeng, Bipul Chandra Bora, Budhin Phukan, Dhaniram Saikia and Dr T Tamuli offered suggestions to uphold the rights and privileges of elderly persons as declared by the United Nations.
The committee constituted a committee with nine members with Prafulla Kumar Mahanta as the convenor to make revision of the constitution of the association. The next meeting of the committee will be held in September at Mangaldoi.
Nonagenarians to be honoured: The Central Co-ordination Committee of the association of the Elderly Citizens of Guwahati in its meeting held recently appealed to all the pensioners� associations and the associations of the senior citizens of the State to observe befittingly the World Elders Day on October 1 next with due enthusiasm and solemnity.
The meeting held under the presidentship of NN Changkakati, retired DGP also revolved to request the TV channels and newspapers to take up appropriate programmes for appropriate projection of the message of the Elders� Day. The meeting also decided to felicitate six well-known nonagenarians of Guwahati including retired judge Bholaram Das, freedom fighter Kamakhyaram Das, former minister Kamal Kumari Barua, Dr Jamini Choudhury, prof Ashraf Ali and Dr Pratap Choudhury on the occasion at the central function to be held at the Cotton College Union Hall.
The Elders� Day rally to be held on the occasion will be flagged off by Tulsi Govinda Baruah while Pulin Das will take the first step in the procession. The procession will start from the District Library at 9.30 am and will terminate at the Cotton College. Kamaleswar Bora, Dinesh Barman, DN Chakravarty, N Tania, PK Mahanta, NC Chakraborty, Aboni Sarma and N Malakar took part in the discussion.