Parliamentary panel asks EOBI to settle pension claims

ISLAMABAD:

A parliamentary panel has directed the Employees Old-Age Benefit Institution (EOBI) to finalise the outstanding 745 pension claims and provide a full, line-by-line register of pending and settled cases.

It has also ordered the intuition to advertise and conclude the process for appointing its permanent chairman before the next sitting of the committee and submit compliance reports for regional offices with registration statistics, service-delivery metrics and remedial actions.

The National Assembly Standing Committee on Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development met on Friday to review implementation of previous directives and to receive updates from the EOBI, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and the Ministry of Interior.

The committee appreciated that 2,416 pension cases had been settled following the committee's intervention but emphasised that partial progress is insufficient as every remaining claim must be concluded promptly and transparently.

The committee also ordered that the matter of alleged irregular utilisation of workers' hard-earned contributions by one of its former chairmen be resolved.

It was alleged that an amount of approximately Rs2.4 million was drawn from workers' funds and utilised to obtain memberships of the DHA Golf Club in Karachi, and the Islamabad Club.

The committee was informed that the matter is currently under litigation; however, it directed that the case be pursued on an urgent basis to ensure recovery of the misused funds and accountability in accordance with law.

It also sought a consolidated five-year status report on its recommendations for institutional reforms and an actuarial note on extending EOBI coverage to informal workers notably fishermen. It instructed the EOBI to provide financial reconciliation for recoveries from former officials.

On trafficking and migration controls, the FIA briefed the committee on ongoing inquiries into illegal migration routes to Cambodia and related trafficking networks.

The committee noted arrests and prosecutions but recorded concern at information gaps originating from overseas missions and the need for improved cross-agency collaboration.

It ordered the FIA to furnish, in coordination with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Interior, a consolidated, evidence-based dossier on Cambodia cases and to submit revised off-loading rules and the new risk-analysis protocol designed to identify high-risk passengers. The committee decided to consider these matters in-camera at its next sitting.

Recognising potential fiduciary exposure and opaque asset management, the committee established a four-member sub-committee to scrutinise EOBI's asset, investment portfolio, rental income streams and real-estate holdings.