The forsaken

Fleeting moments
Almost every day Punjab’s pensioners write in to the letters sections of various newspapers, raising their voice against the injustice they face. They think the government is insistent upon giving them a raw deal at the end of their lives. Moreover, they believe that the Punjab government is barely bothered over the court orders which have already been passed in the pensioners’ favour.
In 2011, the Supreme Court ruled in favour of the pensioners who had fought for the restoration of the withheld portion of their pensions by the government. The court ordered that all increments on the withheld part of the pension be paid to the pensioners as a lump sum, and that all government retirees above the age of 75 years would get an amount equivalent to double their pension in one instalment.
All provincial governments obeyed the court orders except the Punjab government. In fact some have suggested, rather mockingly, that the pensioners ride the metro bus because their pensions were invested in developing these projects.
The pensioners seem to carry a genuine grievance against the government for not only failing to pay them a double pension, but also withholding payments of the initial amounts. The courts have summoned the relevant officials on a frequent basis and censured them for not paying the hapless pensioners, but to no avail. When haughty bureaucrats, who can’t imagine their own retirement years, step outside of the courtrooms, they seem to shrug this matter off.
For pensioners their pensions are the most important source of income to run their households when they are at the later stages of their lives. These people have served the best part of their lives in serving the government. If they are denied what is due to them, they have every right to blame the government for having wronged them in the critical stages of their lives.
The government, on the other hand, says it lacks the funds and will pay the outstanding arrears as well as the double pensions in seven years. However, in response to this, the pensioners stated that that they might not even live that long and may never receive their dues. Some have argued that that may precisely be the intention of the government.
In civilised countries, the elderly, senior citizens, pensioners and veterans are treated with reverence. They are given preferential treatment in several public spaces and are offered special services. Unfortunately, in Pakistan, the elite seems to have usurped all privilege and takes over most part of the state’s special resources, leaving none for those who truly need them.
Pensioners feel trapped in this situation, and are forced to run around in circles by the Punjab government. To add to their predicament, they are not an age where they can stage protests on roadsides because they are physically unfit to do so. Instead of taking out processions to press for their demands, they have used formal channels to solve this issue, such as the Punjab Services Tribunal and the high court.
The Punjab government’s appeal in the Supreme Court against the high court decision was dismissed. In fact, Ombudsman Punjab Javed Mahmood had welcomed the request of the retired employees. He went so far as to assure them that they would get their arrears just before Eid in 2014, bringing them ‘double happiness’. Unfortunately, Eid came and went, but they still have not received justice.
Having established their right to enhanced and double pension on all forums, the decision regarding the fate of the pensioners finally landed in the ‘court’ of the Chief Minister of Punjab, Shahbaz Sharif, which is a single bench. The ultimate question remains, when all provinces abided by the court’s initial decision, why did Punjab fail to do so?
The writer is a freelance columnist based in Lahore. Email: pinecity@gmail.com