They also called on the government to incorporate separately the issue of poor old people into the poverty reduction strategy paper (PRSP).

The dialogue on 'Chronic Poverty, PRSP, MDG and Older Citizen Monitoring Project' was organised by Resource Integration Centre (RIC), a non-government organisation, at the CIRDAP auditorium in the city.

The speakers said the government should conduct a comprehensive study to know the multidimensional poverty status of the older people to help formulate proper policy on them.

"According to a survey in 2001, 7.6 million that is 6.2 percent of our total population was older people, and this figure will reach 14.6 million that is 9 percent in 2025," said Prof Abul Barkat of Dhaka University while presenting his key note paper.

He said people at the age of 60 was treated as older people in the survey.

The main target of the Millennium Development Goal is to eradicate extreme poverty but our government is trying only to reduce the poverty through its PRSP, Barkat alleged.

He said the government should formulate and implement economic, social, health and security programmes for the older people especially for the poor women who are more vulnerable than their male counterpart.

"People become vulnerable, isolated, powerless, burden of the society and feel insecure when they pass their life after 60 years," said KM Rashid, president of the Forum for the Right of the Elderly.

Presided over by RIC Director Abul Hasib Khan the dialogue was participated by Nilufar Ahmed, senior social scientist of the World Bank, Masudur Rahman, assistant director of the social welfare department, Habibur Rahman, professor of the social science department and Shah Mohammad Keramot Ali, professor of Nutrition Science department of Dhaka Universtiy, Sharifa Begum, senior research fellow of the BIDS and some older people.