Ombudsman expresses concern over delay in family pension cases

Provincial Ombudsman Sindh Ajaz Ali Khan has expressed concerns over inordinate delay in the grant of family pensions to the legal heirs of deceased government employees by the office of the Accountant General (AG) Sindh.

A 70-year-old woman, Saban Bibi, had filed a complaint on June 8, 2015, in the ombudsman’s office about delay in the grant of family pension in respect of her unmarried brother who died in October, 2013.

The matter was taken up with the office of the AG Sindh and it took them three years to locate her pension papers as there was also a long list of pre-requisites to be fulfilled by the complainant.

The complaint was made by her not once but twice and the procedure was so cumbersome that it took her two years to complete all the formalities. Finally, with constant persuasion and concerted efforts of the institution of the ombudsman, she was able to get the monthly pension along with all the consequential dues in January 2021, after five years. Due to this, the provincial ombudsman has called on the AG Sindh to review the entire procedure of the grant of family pension.