EOBI: Pensioners demand stipend raised

ISLAMABAD: Pensioners registered with the Employees Old Age Benefit Institution (EOBI) have demanded of the government to increase their pension stipend considering the prevailing inflation in the country.

All Pakistan EOBI Pensioners President Mubarik Hussain Gulshad said that more than 20,000 industrial workers were registered with the EOBI but they were receiving pension a monthly sum of Rs5,250 from the institute, which was a pittance.

He said that the government announces raise in pension for all employees every year in the budget but no one was paying heed to the financial problems of the EOBI pensioners who were receiving such a meagre sum to make both ends meet.

Gulshad said that “I am a cardiac patient with high blood pressure and cost of the treatment and medicines I use every month is much more than when I get in pension”.

He said that the EOBI deducts a large amount from salaries of registered employees, however, it was not paying enough to the registered pensioners.

Another pensioner, Ghulam Murtaza, who had served in a factory for 30 years, said, “the pension sum is not released on time and sometimes we have to wait for many days to get the pension”.

“In every country, governments give benefits to the senior citizens and pensioner but unfortunately in Pakistan, it is not possible for the old aged people to live with dignity,” he said.

The EOBI Act 1976 was enforced on April 01, 1976, to provide compulsory social insurance to the registered pensioners.

It covers Old-Age Pension, Survivor’s Pension, Invalidity Pension and Old-Age Grant to the insured persons or their heirs.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 16^th, 2016.