A 72-year-old senior citizen from Saghara, Kamala Municipality–4, fainted while standing in line inside a bank to receive her social security allowance on May 12, 2026.
The elderly woman had gone to NIC Asia Bank in Kamala Municipality to collect her allowance. She reportedly fainted due to the unmanaged queue and extreme heat. The victim did not wish to make her identity public.
According to Hemant Sharma, chief of the Janakpur branch of NIC Asia Bank, although two additional counters were arranged separately for men and women because of the heavy crowd, the bank was unable to create a properly managed environment for senior citizens to receive their old-age allowance due to the excessive pressure of service seekers.
According to Ward Chairperson Deepak Gohiwar of Ward No. 4, the excessive crowd of service seekers was caused by the presence of only one bank branch serving the entire municipality. He said the elderly woman collapsed in the queue due to the heat and crowd, and received basic treatment at the local health post.
Chief Administrative Officer of the municipality, Dr. Sarban Shah, expressed commitment to making the distribution of social security allowances more systematic and preventing such incidents from recurring in the future.
Services and facilities provided by the state for senior citizens should be distributed in an accessible, safe, and dignified manner. However, due to weak management by the local government and the concerned bank, along with the lack of basic facilities such as drinking water and proper seating arrangements, senior citizens have been forced to endure long hours under the scorching sun. Service provider agencies need to pay special attention to physically weak and dependent elderly citizens by ensuring they receive priority services.