THIS refers to the letter `Senior citizens` (Aug 17), which prompted me to compare the lives of senior citizens in Pakistan and Canada, where I presently live. It is beyond doubt that senior citizens of the country, any country, are the ones who have contributed towards society`s progress and prosperity in their younger days. For their valuable contribution, they deserve to be rewarded in every possible manner. This is what happens in the developed world.

Here in Canada, and in most Western countries, senior citizens are respected and rewarded with several facilities. In Canada, the government pays senior citizens monthly cash benefits, which is called Old Age Security, under the Old Age Security Act. Also, they are respected at various levels, including having separate counters for them in banks and government offices where they do not have to stand in queues.

The separate counters are often with chairs available around them. Also, various big retail establishments, including pharmacies and supermarkets, allow discounts to seniorcitizens once a week. There is even a separate government department/ ministry to look after affairs related to senior citizens.

The government in Pakistan should take a cue from such steps, and, consideringsenior citizens` valuable services to society and their professions, chalk out a strategy to reward them with what they deserve.

Qasim Abbas Mississauga, Canada