LAHORE, Jan 8: Employees Old Age Benefit Institution chairman Shafi Malik has said the institution was out of the red and become viable after resolution of crisis resulting from a pre-2002 financial scandal.
The EOBI chairman said at a press conference here on Saturday the institution's assets had exceeded Rs87 billion by Dec 31 after recovery from crisis and it was disbursing around Rs2 billion annually in the form of grants and pensions among more than 246,000 retired and disabled workers, widows and their survivors.
He said the number of employees registered with the EOBI had exceeded 2,142,000 and the number of industrial concerns 53,000 as a result of implementation of a plan with the participation of the representatives of the workers and the employers after its takeover three years ago.
The employees had also been given the right to register themselves with the EOBI in case of failure of the employers to do so. Dispute resolution committees had also been constituted, he added.
Mr Malik said the institution fell into crisis after the government discontinued contributing 5 per cent share. The crisis deepened after drastic fall in national savings schemes' profits in which the EOBI funds were invested. The problem had been solved by encouraging self-registration and fixing flat rate of contribution for employers at Rs150 per worker with a Rs20 contribution by the worker and investments in real estate and stocks yielding up to 40 per cent dividend rate.
He said the administration had disposed of all the assets procured from 14 corrupt officials of the previous management through the National Accountability Bureau except one raising Rs6.086 million over and above the Rs903.201 million value assessed by the NAB. Computerization of the record of the industrial and commercial organizations registered with the EOBI had already been completed while the record of the employees would be completed by Jan 15.
He said the institution had been established under the EOBI Act in 1976 for payment of pension to the employees of industrial and commercial establishments drawing salaries up to Rs3,000.
The employers were required to contribute 2 per cent of the salary of every worker with two years or more service every year for making him eligible for the EOBI pension and grants.