I AM a 67-year-old widow and survivor pensioner (Claim No. QBWO05093) of the Employees’ Old-Age Benefits Institution (EOBI). For over a year, my pension has remained suspended despite my repeated efforts to prove my identity and existence through every available legal and administrative channel.
During this period, I have approached the EOBI, the relevant bank, the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra), the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), the Wafaqi Mohtasib, the Pakistan Information Commission, the Overseas Pakistanis Foundation, and several other public institutions. Numerous complaint references, official correspondence and regulatory interventions have followed. Yet, my pension has remained suspended.
The most troubling aspect of the matter is that Pakistan today possesses sophis-ticated digital identity infrastructure. Nadra has confirmed the availability of digital facial-recognition-based verification systems capable of remotely verifying pensioners. Similar systems are reportedly being utilised in other government pension frameworks. However, a number of EOBI pensioners are still unable to benefit from these mechanisms because of institutional non-integration.
If secure digital verification are there, why should elderly overseas pensioners be compelled to undertake costly and physically demanding international travel merely to prove they are alive? For senior citizens, widows, disabled individuals, and overseas Pakistanis, such requirements are insurmountable barriers rather than administrative formalities.
This matter is not simply about a pension payment. It is about dignity. It is about whether technological progress is reaching the citizens who need it the most. It is about whether public institutions can work together to ensure that lawful entitlements are not lost in bureaucratic gaps.
Pakistan rightly takes pride in its digital transformation initiatives. The true measure of that progress, however, lies not in the existence of technology, but in its ability to protect vulnerable citizens. I hope the relevant authorities will treat this issue not merely as an individual grievance, but as an opportunity to address a systemic challenge affecting overseas pensioners.
Ms Ghulam Fatima
Ontario, Canada
Published in Dawn, July 26th, 2026
