Litigation a retirement gift for pensioners

Thousands of retired people have approached the federal ombudsman and the presidency to get their rights

ISLAMABAD: Ghulam Ali, a retired government officer, served his entire working life in a government department, but on retirement he was denied pension and his appeal was pending before President Mamnoon Hussain for the last six months.

Ali, 63, served in Printing Corporation of Pakistan, a state owned institution. He retired in 2013 as a senior proof-reader and since then he was waiting to get his pension.

Ali a father of six told The Express Tribune that after his retirement he applied in Employees Old-Age Benefits Institution (EOBI) to get his pension, but his application was rejected on the ground that his age on his matriculation certificate was not correct.

He claimed that his department tried to engage him in technical issues and was reluctant to release his pension. Ali said the issue of his age on matriculation certificate came up after four decades only when he approached the authorities for his dues.



“I gave my department over 40 years of my life but that department deprived me of my pension…this is the reward I got for a lifetime of service,” he added.

According to Ali, he filed a petition with the Federal Ombudsman, an institution which addresses the citizens’ complaints against maladministration on the part of federal ministries and agencies.

However, his appeal was also rejected on the grounds EOBI took. The final appeal was pending before the president for the last six months.

Shahid Khan, secretary to the president, refused to comment when contacted.

Herculean task for old and feeble

Ali is among thousands of people who are left running from pillar to post to get their pensions released from different ministries and departments. Many pensioners have approached the Federal Ombudsman and the Presidency to get their rights.

According to the documents available with The Express Tribune 3,451 pension cases were filed with the office of the Federal Ombudsman from 2012 to 2016 against different government departments including Accountant General of Pakistan Revenue (AGPR), Pakistan Post Office, Pakistan Public Works Department (PWD), Pakistan Railway, PTV, Senate Secretariat, State and Frontier Regions and Division, State Bank of Pakistan and others.

According to the documents, 18 cases were filed by retired employees in current year against AGPR for holding back their dues. Similarly, 79 cases were filed against EOBI, 32 against post office, 44 against railways and 14 cases were filed against Wapda by perturbed pensioners.

Interestingly, EOBI is on the top of pension dodgers, as 864 cases were filed against it in the last four years.

The department is responsible for collecting funds from government and private sector, invest the funds and issue pensions to registered people after they turn 60.

Action needed

“Time has come that government should take practical steps to address the issue of pensioners,” said Iqbal Hameed, retired employees from EOBI.

Recently, lawmakers had expressed serious concerns over the delay in the pension. Kishwar Zehra, MQM lawmaker was of the view that retired officers were facing many problems in getting their pension and suggested that responsibility should be fixed against those who delay the payment of retirement dues. The lawmakers stressed the implementation of the law.

Senior adviser and Grievance Commissioner Federal Ombudsman Hafiz Ahsaan Ahmed Khokhar, confirmed to The Express Tribune that 3,154 cases were filed with the Ombudsman against different ministries and departments for denying pension to their employees.

However, he claimed the cases were disposed of while giving direction to the ministries.

Khokhar claimed that the Ombudsman had already directed all departments to finalise the cases within 30 days. The direction has been issued that pension cases should be processed six months prior to the retirement date of the employees.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 26^th,  2016.