KARACHI, Aug 10: Chairman Employees Old Age Benefits Institution (EOBI) Muhammad Shafi Malik said that transparent, fair and just system had been entrenched in all operation of the EOBI.
This he said while speaking as chief guest at a workshop on “EOBI Pension Scheme” organized by the WEBCOP on request of EOBI to develop consensus on the three alternatives suggested by the actuary in the 5th Actuarial Valuation Report to ensure viability of the scheme.
He said that the report prepared by Akhtar & Hassan (Pvt) Ltd. had reiterated that the EOBI Scheme in its present form was not viable. They had supported the views of experts of the World Bank, he added.
Mr Malik said that it was evident from the report that immediate corrective steps would have to be taken to arrest the depletion of funds. Institution had taken a number of steps to improve viability of the scheme, he added.
He said that collection of contribution during the year 2002- 03 had been increased by 20.16 per cent by first ever crossing the barrier of Rs2 billion.
Chairman informed that the EOBI had developed a comprehensive database of employers after collection of information from various sources. Self-assessment scheme on the basis of flat rate contribution of Rs150 per person per month from employer and Rs20 per person per month from employee had been introduced.
He said that EOBI Scheme was a welfare scheme for workers, which was mandatory for the employers having more than 10 workers, and voluntary for those having less than 10 employees.
In his presentation, Actuary Shujaat Siddiqui expressed the view that if immediate remedial measures were not taken, the fund may start depletion after 2024 to exhaust the fund in 2035.
Senior Actuary of Finance Ministry Chaudhry Anwar said that after receipt of concrete proposals, he would take up the matter with higher authorities for government contribution. He appreciated the way EOBI management was running the affairs of the institution.
Earlier, Convener of WEBCOP Ehsanullah Khan said that the WEBCOP was the first workers employers bilateral body in the world, establishment of which was initialled by both stakeholders themselves. He promised to submit concrete recommendation for viability of the scheme after further deliberations at the WEBCOP forum.
The workshop was attended among other by S.P. Lodhi, Khalil-ur-Rehman, Muhammad Islam, Salim Raza, A.H. Hydri, Osmani, Nazim F. Haji and senior officers of EOBI.—APP
