SENIOR citizens entitled to the Employees Old-Age Benefits Institution pension after retirement from service are passing their days in misery especially those for whom the EOBI pension is a sizeable portion of their monthly income.

I am also a pensioner passing my days in extreme misery owing to severe financial constraints.

The last time the EOBI pension was raised by a significant proportion was in April 2015 by the PML-N government. The EOBI pension was increased by almost 46 per cent from Rs 3,600 per month to Rs 5,250. Thereafter there was no increase.

When the PTI government came to power, Special Assistant for Overseas Pakistanis Zulfi Bukhari announced a Rs 1,250 increase and EOBI pension rose to Rs 6,500 per month from Sept 2019. The EOBI pensioners were promised by the PTI government that it would gradually raise EOBI pension to Rs 15,000 per month during its tenure which ends in 2023.

The PTI government announced a further Rs 2,000 increase in the EOBI pension raising it to Rs 8,500 per month with effect from Jan 2020. A notification in this respect was also published by the federal government. This notification was implemented on April 1, and EOBI pensioners received two months arrears i.e. Jan and Feb, 2020. However, the EOBI pensioners were astonished to receive pension at Rs 6,500 instead of Rs 8,500 in May, and there is no explanation for the deduction.

The federal government should explain the abrupt withdrawal of Rs 2,000 from the monthly pension which is a sizable amount for senior citizens who have few if any sources of income.

The elderly pensioners many of whom are passing their days in near penury, feel they have been slighted.

This is the first time in Pakistan’s history that a relief once granted by the government has been reversed on what some officials told the media was “stoppage owing to technical grounds.” The senior citizens in their twilight are wondering what are the technical grounds?

Shakeel Ahmed
Karachi

Published in Dawn, June 16th, 2020