Daily Times

Sir: Through the columns of your esteemed newspaper, I want to draw the attention of the authorities concerned towards the problems of old pensioners. A pension is a monetary reward for the people who spend their entire lives serving government or private organisations. After a specific time period, they are retired from their services. At this stage, a pension is the only support that can meet their financial needs to some extent.

On May 4, 2015, I went to the National Bank of Pakistan with my mother for receiving her pension. At 8:30 am, I saw approximately 700 old people, who were standing in a queue outside the bank under the scorching heat for receiving token numbers. After 40 minutes, at about 9:10 am, the bank opened and all these people entered the building. There were four counters but only two employees were available there. There were no proper seating arrangement, so these old pensioners had to sit on the floor, while there was no air-conditioner working. These two employees were handling the crowd of hundreds of old pensioners. Their working speed was not satisfactory. It was really unbearable to sit in the main hall. Therefore, I decided to return home because of my mother’s not feeling well. We planned to visit the bank again after three hours. When I visited the bank again, I lost all hope because there was no change in the conditions. Only about a quarter of the pensioners could get their pensions. The bank staff had stopped work for lunch break and the old pensioners were still waiting helplessly. The staff came back after an hour and started working. I waited three hours and then my token number was called just 15 minutes before the closure of the bank. There were still 300 people who were waiting for their turn but their entire struggle proved futile. I was very dejected when I saw some pensioners who were weeping bitterly.

I appreciate that the government has increased pensions after a delay of two years, but it is extremely important to make good arrangements for paying old pensioners what they are owed by society.

MUHAMMAD SALMAN

Karachi