ISLAMABAD: Conversion of National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) branch into Islamic banking has deprived around 2,000 serving and retired employees of Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) from salaries and pension.

Manager NBP Pims Branch Rana Hamid said salaried accounts would be restored but Islamic banking does not have the provision to have direct investment through Accountant General Pakistan Revenues (AGPR) so pensioners’ accounts have been shifted to G-9 branch.

Pensioners have been informed by G-9 branch that their accounts could not be transferred so December’s pension could not be released to around 500 pensioners despite passage of an entire week of January.

Pims Executive Director Dr Rana Imran Sikander said he was trying to address the issue although the hospital could not do much into the issue.

A 62-year-old pensioner Mohammad Haneef, while talking to Dawn, said he retired as a laboratory technician from Pims and was getting pension for the last two years.

“I worked in the hospital for almost four decades. We [employee] opened 4,000 accounts in the branch which played a role in making it successful.

We were told that as branch is being converted into Islamic banking, we have to submit letters that we want to adopt Islamic banking.

Most of the pensioners including me submitted application provided by the bank manager.

This month our pension has been stopped and we have been advised to contact G-9 branch. On the other hand G-9 branch says our accounts are not shifted there,” he said.

Another pensioner, Tanveer Noshahi, said that he also submitted the form allowing Islamic banking but could not get the pension.

“Now we are being told to open new accounts, if we want to continue with the Pims branch, and approach the AGPR to change the pension accounts. Everyone knows that it will be a herculean task to change the number of pension account in AGPR.

We are retired and cannot run from pillar to post to change account. We have ATM cards but our pension could not be transferred even online,” he said, urging Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to take notice of the issue.

Other pensioners, Mirza Akmal, Mohammad Khalid and Shamsher Ahmed, also appealed to Finance Minister Mohammad Aurangzeb and Health Coordinator Dr Malik Mukhtar to intervene.

Manager NBP Pims Branch Rana Hamid, while talking to Dawn, said that the branch had been converted into Islamic banking due to which it was not possible to convert their existing accounts into Islamic banking accounts.

“The issue of around 1,500 in-service employees has been resolved, but as far as pensioners are concerned, I have informed them that they will have to open new accounts if they want to get pension at Pims branch.

However their new account will have to be replaced in the AGPR,” Mr Hamid said.

Dr Rana Imran Sikander, while talking to Dawn, said that he himself talked to bank manager and he [manager] told him that because of the court decision NBP had converted some of the branches into Islamic banking.

“Because of the conversion salary and pension were stopped. Now salary has been restored but pensioners may have to be shifted to some other branch. We have been trying to facilitate the pensioners as they served Pims for decades,” he added.

Published in Dawn, January 8th, 2025