SIALKOT, April 29: Employees Old-age Benefit Institution (EOBI) has finally approved a uniform policy, under which widows of industrial workers will now get Rs1,400 per month full pension against Rs1,000.

This was said by EOBI Chairman Akhtar Zaamin while addressing a meeting of exporters and industrialists at the Sialkot Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) here on Saturday.

SCCI acting-president Faisal Mehmood Khan was also present on this occasion. The EOBI chief said the above-mentioned widows welfare policy would be implemented in the country in June this year.

He said the institution had also chalked out an effective policy for ‘seasonal industrial workers’ of the country. Under this policy, service limit of the industrial workers had been reduced from 15 to 10 years.

He said the EOBI was making all-out efforts to simplify the procedure and all pension cases would be decided within a stipulated period of 30 days.

Mr Zaamin said the EOBI was also examining a proposal to launch ‘pension at doorstep,’ especially in urban areas to minimise grievances of pensioners.

He ordered early shifting of the Sialkot EOBI office from Model Town to Small Industrial Estate. He formulated a resolution committee, comprising senior officials of EOBI and SCCI, to resolve mutual disputes amicably. He also assured to put up the matter of issuance of late surcharge notices to Sialkot businessmen in the meeting of EOBI board of governors.

Later talking to the press at SCCI, Mr Zaamin said there were 1,326,000 registered workers in the country as per the EOBI record. Of them, 226,000 were pensioners and the EOBI had been paying Rs220 million to them every month.