TALKS of PIA’s financial restructuring keep making headlines in the national media. Among other things, the management intends to curtail medical facilities, rationalising of air passage facilities to its employees, etc.

The PIA management has not mentioned any plans to restore full pension to its pensioners, who have completed 10 years of commutation period after retirement on reaching the age of superannuation.

It is time the remaining 50 per cent pension was restored to all pensioners who have completed 10 years of commutation period post-retirement.

It is worth mentioning that the restoration of pension will not be a burden on PIA’s revenue earnings because all gratuities and provident funds are bunched together under the provident fund trust, which is independent of PIA’s revenue earnings.

This trust gets its funds through employees’ own contributions out of their salaries, and it is their legal right to claim full pension admissible under the rules.

One hopes that the PIA management will look into this lingering problem and rationalise pensions of its retired employees.

Abid Mahmud Ansari

Islamabad

Published in Dawn, January 17th, 2021