Govt employees, pensioners go unpaid

People throng banks, which lack mechanism to deal with crowding

LAHORE: Four days have passed since the provincial government issued a notification about paying its employees and pensioners, but the salaries and pensions could not be paid till Monday.

The Punjab government issued the notification on March 27, stating that the salaries and pensions would be paid on time. However, due to the slowing down of the financial system, no salary and pension was disbursed by the banks. Crowds of employees and pensioners thronged the banks for their compensation.

In this regard, the banks have not prepared any mechanism for the people crowding at their branches. Government employees and pensioners who contacted the banks could not receive their dues. They only found written notices at the branches that stated that they would get their pensions and salaries today.

The Punjab government had decided to pay the dues to more than 120,000 salaried employees and over 500,000 pensioners on time.

Regarding this, Accountant General Punjab (AGP) had issued a directive while Punjab Finance Department had also issued a notification, but so far no progress has been made.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 31^st, 2020.