Notice Taken: Faruqui to improve pension system

ISLAMABAD: Federal Ombudsman Salman Faruqui has set-up a high-powered committee tasked with making the country’s pension payment system hassle-free, efficient and transparent. Taking notice of media reports, the ombudsman directed the committee to submit a report within 45 days. Faruqui said he was troubled by footage of elderly citizens in long queues at banks without water or shelter. Former auditor general Tanvir Ali Agha will head the committee, which comprises former secretaries, former military accountant general and controller general of accounts, as well as advisers to the ombudsman. Faruqui will also inaugurate a one-window desk to facilitate overseas Pakistanis at Karachi’s Jinnah International Airport on August 6. Similar desks have been set-up at Islamabad’s Benazir Bhutto International Airport and the Allama Iqbal International Airport in Lahore. He also said his office will host the 14th annual Asian Ombudsman Association conference from November 24 to 25 this year.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 5^th, 2015.