ISLAMABAD: Federal Ombudsman Syed Tahir Shahbaz has directed all the concerned government departments to finalise pension cases of retired officers and officials in a timely manner.

He said all those concerned must ensure that pensioners do not suffer due to negligence or apathy. Several departments have submitted implementation statuses of pension cases to the Mohtasib Secretariat in pursuance of his directive.

Government departments are required to submit periodic reports about the timely disposal of pension cases on a regular basis.

Following increasing complaints about delayed payments of legitimate dues to government servants, the mohtasib constituted a committee to study the problems in detail and give suitable recommendations.

The committee recommended that all departments finalise pension cases prior to the retirement date of government functionaries.

The recommendation was widely appreciated, and government agencies and departments have introduced a new pension processing mechanism.

Pensioners and widows previously had to wait for an unspecified period of time to receive pensions. Ministries and divisions have also designated focal persons to take care of all pension-related matters.

Published in Dawn, September 18th, 2017