RAWALPINDI: For four months now, more than 19,000 pensioners, including former employees of the City District Government Rawalpindi (CDGR) have not received their pensions.

The Punjab government has not taken any action to resolve the issue, despite efforts by the pensioners, 700 of whom are women, to bring the matter to the government’s attention since they were first not paid in November 2015.

Employees of the Rawal Town Municipal Administration (RTMA) staged a hunger strike to get local administration to release their pensions to former RTMA employees and after a break on Wednesday which is Pakistan Day, will continue with the strike on Thursday.

“These pensioners are being denied their right. An official at CDGR has said they don’t have enough funds to pay the pensions,” said Younas Masih, RTMA Employees Union CBA general secretary.

Former CDGR employees might not be paid their pensions for two more months

“Pensioners have been making visits to the accounts office in hopes that they will get their pensions, but they are sent home empty handed. It is difficult for them to come to the office everyday,” Mr Masih said.

Senior citizens are already facing many problems, including health issues, and they should not be troubled further, he added.

When asked, District Coordination Officer (DCO) Sajid Zafar Dall said the pensions will be paid as soon as the Punjab Finance Department releases the funds.

“The issue of these pensioners is complicated because they come from the defunct Rawalpindi Municipal Corporation. The Rawal and Potohar town municipal administrations and other civic agencies were paying CDGR the pensions. After collecting money from these departments, CDGR pays the pensioners,” he explained.

The DCO said the issue had been taken up with the Punjab Finance Department and that a permanent solution will be drawn over a month or two, after which the pensioners will be paid their dues.

Meanwhile, talking to Dawn, PTI MPA Arif Abbasi said the provincial government wants to please revenue officials and are ignoring pensioners and ordinary citizens.

“PML-N is spending money on roads, metro bus, orange line and other projects to earn commissions from them and are not attending to former government employees,” he said.

“That pensioners are without pensions is an example of the ruling party’s and Shahbaz Sharif’s ‘good’ governance,” the PTI MNA added. If the pensions were not paid soon, PTI will be taking the issue up in the provincial assembly, he said.

Published in Dawn, March 23rd, 2016