PESHAWAR: The administration of University of Engineering and Technology Peshawar has not increased pensions of its retired employees despite lapse of more than nine months of the current financial year.

“If the university can increase the salaries of its employees, why it is silent on the increase of pension of retired employees,” one of the retired professors of UET told Dawn.

The retired employees have expressed concerns over the stepmother’s attitude of UET with the pensioners and demanded of Governor Haji Ghulam Ali, the chancellor of the public sector universities in the province, to take notice of the matter.

Talking to this scribe, a number of retired professors, former deans and other retired employees of UET said that salaries and pensions of the government employees were increased at the start of the current financial year. However, they said that the retired employees of UET were yet to see their pension increased as per decision of the government.

They said that it took six months for UET to get the government’s decision approved by its syndicate in December 2022.

The six-month arrears would, however, be released gradually to the serving employees, they said. Similarly, the pensioners would start receiving their increased pension from January 1 as per the decision of the syndicate and their six-months arrears, too, would be issued gradually as per the mechanism adopted by the university in line with its financial status, they said.

The retired employees said the university administration had assured them that they would get their increased pension as well from January. “But four months have also passed of the assurance and no increase has been be made in the pensions,” they added.

They said that the governor should take notice of the situation and ensure release of increased pensions to them.

Published in Dawn, April 10th, 2023