THE Employees’ Old-Age Benefits Institution (EOBI) is a social insurance institution which came into being through the EOBI Act on April 1, 1976, and became functional in February 1982. It operates under the administrative control of the Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development.

The relevant special assistant to prime minister (SAPM) had announced on Jan 1, 2020, that the EOBI pension would be raised to the level of Rs15,000 per month. Almost two years later, the commitment has not been honoured.

The EOBI Pensioners’ Welfare Association (EPWA) has reasons to urge the highest offices in the land to look into this vital and serious concern regarding the hardships being faced by the senior citizens.

The first generation of Pakistanis over 60 years of age receive a meagre amount of Rs8,500 as EOBI pension every month to meet their living expenses, which include food, shelter, clothing, medical expenses, utility bills, travelling, etc. Amid the prevailing hyperinflation, their survival has become impossible.

A large number of pensioners who have given their life and experience to the economic and industrial development of this country are in acute economic and mental duress over not being able to manage the basic needs of life at the fag end of their existence on the planet.

The EOBI does not receive any financial assistance from the government for carrying out its operations and financial distributions. A contribution equal to five per cent of the minimum wage has to be paid by the employers of all industrial and commercial organisations that fall under the EOBI Act. As such, an increase in the pension amount would not be a burden on the government at large.

In the light of these facts, it is not illogical on the part of EPWA to urge the government to allow pensioners to live with dignity and honour by increasing the EOBI pension to an amount equivalent to the minimum wage prevailing at any given time.

Besides, all EOBI pensioners should also be issued government health cards to provide them the most critical cover they need in this phase of their lives. Both the suggestions need to be considered seriously by the government as they hold water under any circumstances. The current tough times of unprecedented inflation in the country have only underlined the urgency element in the equation.

Azfar Shamim
Chairman, EPWA
Karachi

Published in Dawn, December 19th, 2021