ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly Standing Committee on Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development has lauded the Employees’ Old-Age Benefits Institution (EOBI) for settling 2,416 pending pension claims but directed it to finalise the remaining 745 cases before the next meeting, as well as completing the appointment of a regular chairman, and furnishing a detailed register of all pension settlements.
Recognising potential fiduciary exposure and opaque asset management, a four-member sub-committee comprising Dr Mehreen Razzaq Bhutto, Farhan Chishti, Muhammad Ilyas Choudhary and Mr Fateh Ullah was constituted to examine EOBI’s assets, investments, and property portfolio.
The committee directed the EOBI board to finalise the outstanding 745 pension claims and provide a full, line-by-line register of pending and settled cases.
Mehreen Bhutto pointed out that millions of rupees were illegally transferred from EOBI accounts to other accounts. It was alleged that an amount of approximately Rs2.4 million was drawn from workers’ funds and utilised to obtain memberships of the DHA Golf Club, Karachi, and the Islamabad Club.
The committee was informed that the matter was currently under litigation.
Committee member Zulfiqar Ali Bhatti revealed that the EOBI was collecting funds from a hospital he had established in Sargodha without registering its workers. Taking serious notice, the committee ordered immediate registration of all workers in Sargodha and sought a detailed report on the utilisation of EOBI funds. The chairman also directed departmental action against the EOBI regional director in Sargodha.