LAHORE: The budget proposal for only 7.5 per cent increase in the pension is another blow to the retired government employees, a large number of whom are already facing stoppage of the meager pension amount by National Bank, in violation of a Supreme Court direction.

“The increase is tantamount to adding insult to injury to the widows and orphans left by the deceased government employees and the pensioners,” Punjab Small Industries Corporation Pensioners’ Welfare Association president Khwaja Hameed Asghar told Dawn on Monday.

“With Ramazan and Eidul Fitr approaching, stoppage of pension in violation of Supreme Court directions is tantamount to financial genocide of those who gave their best years, their sweat and blood to the government,” he said.

It had been a budgetary practice that the retired employees were granted (pension) raises with higher rates than the serving ones as the pensions had always been paltry as compared to the salaries. Furthermore, the retired employees had always been categorised as old and new pensioners; the former getting increase between 15 and 20 percent and the latter ranging from 10pc to 15pc.

“Though the 7.5pc increase for the serving employees is also too small, but due to their higher pays and inclusion of ad hoc allowances of 2011 and 2012 the increases in their pays would automatically swell to a reasonable level, whereas the equal rate of increase (in pension and pay) would mean a very small raise for the pensioners,” said Mr Khwaja, demanding that the government should review the proposal and grant at least 20pc increase in the pensions.

Meanwhile, retired employees had been thronging the Accountant-General Punjab office since May 2 with the complaint that managers of the NBP branches concerned had been refusing them pension.

Earlier, drawing pension through various NBP branches, the retired employees were told to approach the Punjab AG’s office for processing of their pension cases through direct credit system (DCS).

“The pensioners are complaining that the NBP managers informed them that disbursement of pension was being refused on the written directions of (the bank’s) head office. Whereas, it is optional for pensioners to adopt DCS or not as per directions given by Supreme Court,” says a letter sent to the regional head of the NBP by the Punjab AG on May 21.

The matter was taken up by the AG with `high offices’ of the NBP in Lahore and Karachi but the branch managers were not following the instructions in letter and spirit while refusing to pay the pension.

“… the NBP is required to pay the pension to all the pensioners whose pension has been authorised to be paid at National Bank of Pakistan by treasury office. NBP should not insist to open the bank account of each pensioner except of those who voluntarily opt for payment through DCS,” (sic) says the letter, copies of which were also forwarded for information to the regional head of the State Bank of Pakistan in Lahore, NBP president in Karachi, besides the Punjab finance department.

Published in Dawn, June 9th, 2015

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