Adding a Little More to Life 

Brothers Khil Bahadur, 73, and Dil Bahadur Khadka, 71, grew up in Chappeli Danda of Lalitpur, and have spent all their lives here. 

Despite being situated in Lalitpur, which is also host to the fourth among six biggest metropolitan cities of Nepal, Chappeli is still rural.  

Dil Bahadur lives in the hill near Chhapeli Bazar, where he is involved in agriculture and goat farming. Khil Bahadur has a small tea shop nearby. Both say that their income is just enough for subsistence.  

That is why the senior citizen allowance of Rs. 4000 (approx. $30) per month is important for their livelihoods. The amount is mainly spent on daily expenses, as well as medical bills. Especially, elder brother Khil Bahadur has asthma and the treatment cost comes to around Rs. 800 ($6.13) every month. 

Younger brother Dil Bahadur says he is healthy, but his wife has asthma. Besides medical expenses, the allowance is spent on minor household necessities and stationery for their grandchildren. “It's such a pleasure to be able to buy things for my grand-kids,” Dil Bahadur shares.     

As the social security allowance program is now linked with the banking system, Khil Bahadur says he's saved a tiny amount to even take a trip with his wife. 

Since the social security allowance is now deposited in the recipients’ bank accounts instead of being handed in cash, people can withdraw as per their need and the rest can be saved. 

Since the social security allowance is now deposited in the recipients’ bank accounts instead of being handed in cash, people can withdraw as per their need and the rest can be saved. 

Khil Bahadur says he was able to save a tiny amount and even use the money to take a coveted trip to the Muktinath temple with his wife.  

 "The road was difficult, but we got there and were able to pray to Muktinath," Khil Bahadur recalls of his trip to the temple, a 14-hour drive from Kathmandu. Asked if he had ever taken a similar holiday with his wife before, Dil Bahadur says it was not impossible for them to travel together as one them always had to stay to attend to work at home.  

In Nepal, over 3.5 million people receive Social Security Allowance (SSA). All SSA recipients — the elderly, single women (mainly widows), persons with disability, children, and those belonging to endangered ethnicities — now receive allowances directly into their bank accounts. The transfer of the SSA into bank accounts has reduced issues of duplication, potential leakage of funds due to ghost beneficiaries, and delayed payments.

Alongside the improved delivery of SSA, delivery of civil registration has also been modernized. Over 97 percent of wards (local government units) have shifted to online registration of vital events such as births, deaths, marriages, and migration.

The digitization of the cash transfers and civil registration, which has brought significant improvement in the service delivery at local levels in Nepal was supported by the World Bank-financed Strengthening Systems for Social Protection and Civil Registration Project (SSSPCR).