Pensioners threaten to ‘close down’ Rawalpindi city on 20th

NON-PAYMENT OF PENSIONS FOR EIGHT MONTHS

Rawalpindi

A large number of pensioners of Municipal Corporation, District Council, Education Department, Health Department and several other departments in an emergency meeting have decided to close down Rawalpindi city on Thursday (20 October) in protest against non-payment of pensions for eight months.

Municipal Workers League (MWL) City District Government Chairman Changez Bhatti, President Haji Muhammad Farooq, Senior Vice-President Malik Muhammad Shafiq, and General Secretary Younas Gori told 'The News' that they will close down all roads of Rawalpindi on Thursday. Helpless old pensioners are leading a hard life, as government has not paid them pension for eight months. The sanitation workers will never lift garbage and other waste material from city on Thursday, they decided.

The representatives said that we will start our rally from main Kutcherry Chowk. “If police tried to stop us we will never spare them because we would block city areas along with our families,” they warned.

The old pensioners (men and women) are continuously visiting District Account Office (DAO) but nobody listening them. The pensioner's case was pending here in District Account Office (DAO) for 2 years, they said. They have also alleged an official in District Account Office (DAO) is creating many problems for pensioners.

They said that they had met District Coordination Officer (DCO), Rawalpindi many a time to resolve this issue but in vain. “So we have decided to come out on roads,” they said.

It is worth mentioning here that a large number of pensioners from the Rawalpindi Municipal Corporation and the District Council are on hunger strike against non-payment of pensions. Protesters, including women, have set up a camp near Liaqat Bagh on Murree Road.

They said they have not been paid their pensions for the last eight months, which has left them in virtual poverty. They said that no one was ready to listen to their grievances while they have gone from pillar-to-post to get their pending dues. They said that the officials were only paying lip services to solve their problems, while the high-ups have kept mum over the issue.

A large number of locals and area politicians from opposition parties also visited the camp to express solidarity with the pensioners, some of whom had turned up on wheelchairs or with walking aids. The protesting pensioners shouted slogans against the local authorities and the provincial government for their apathy and lack of responsiveness. The protest camp, which had organised by Municipal Workers' League Rawal Town, was also abuzz with visits from labour union leaders and active employees of the concerned departments. The protesting pensioners announced that they will continue their hunger strike until they are paid all outstanding dues.