EOBI pensions

The PTI government announced its first formal budget for Fy 2019-2020 on June 11, 2019. In January 2019, Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development Syed Zulfikar Abbas Bukhari had vowed to further enhance the amount of the Employees Old-Age Benefits Institution (EOBI) pension, saying that an increase of 20 percent was not sufficient for pensioners to meet their daily needs.

There was a big hope among EOBI pensioners that the government would increase the EOBI pension. Unfortunately, nothing is stated therein. The government should resolve the long-standing issue of ensuring a considerable increase in EOBI pensions from the current Rs6500 per month to a minimum of Rs20,000 per month. The current pension amount is not even sufficient to run one’s kitchen. A retired person is in dire need of proper medical care, for which too EOBI pensioners are demanding the Insaf Health Card, in addition to many other hardships faced in post-retirement life. One of the agendas of the PTI-led government was reforms in EOBI pensions. The prime minister should immediately take notice of this serious issue and approve an increase in pension amounts to a minimum of Rs20,000 per month at the earliest.

Azfar Shamim

Karachi