Daily Times

Wafaqi Mohtasib has directed the Management of Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) for an early payment of pending dues to its over 300 retired employees.

According to the Director General (Implementation) of Mohtasib Secretariat Muhammad Ashfaq Ahmed, the Management is bound to clear the dues as per its commitment it had given to the Enquiry officer.

Wafaqi Mohasib Ejaz A. Qureshi has already given clear-cut directions for the settlement of issues relating to the retired employees on urgent basis, who have been facing hardships at the hand of unprecedented inflating trends of inflation and price hike of commodities. These directions by the Wafaqi Mohtasib are an outcome of various complaints submitted by over dozens of pensioners against the previous Management which had failed to comply with the vested responsibility on its shoulders.

The APP-Management is still to include budgetary increases of last four years in the pension of the retired employees and clear the outstanding dues accordingly. The arrears of the pension’s increases are pending since 2015-16.

Meanwhile, the APP Pensioners Association (APPPA) at its meeting held here at Islamabad Press Club urged the APP Management to settle the pensioners’ issues at the earliest in accordance with the direction of the Wafaqi Mohtasib.

According to the Association’s press release, the meeting appreciated the Managing Director APP, Akhtar Munir for his personal interest and concerted efforts for the clearance of the Pensioners’ pending dues, which have been accumulated for the last about 8 years.

The Association also urged the Federal Government to take urgent notice of issues relating to APP’s pensioners, in line with its standing policy towards financially hard-hit employees and retired officials and journalists. The meeting demanded the Management to include one of its representatives in its Boards of Directors.

The APPPA at the meeting also reorganized the body and re-elected its office-bearers. They include Javed Akhtar (President), Syed Ejaz Shah (Vice President) Ambrose Joseph (General Secretary) and Azeem Ahmed Khan (Treasure).