January 25, 2019: Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development Syed Zulfikar Abbas Bukhari has vowed to further enhance the amount of Employees Old-Age Benefits Institution (EOBI) pension, saying that the recent increase of 20 per cent was not sufficient for pensioners to meet their daily needs.
Following the Federal Cabinet decision to increase the pension the other day, Zulfikar Bukhari tweeted that “One of the causes dearest to my heart since holding the office of OP&HRD is to provide some relief to old-age EOBI pensioners. I couldn’t be happier as the federal cabinet approved a 20 per cent increase in their pensions.”
The department is working to increase it further in near future, the tweet added.
Earlier, EOBI pensioners were given Rs 5,250 pension and with the recent increase it reached Rs 6,500, a statement issued by OP&HRD ministry said.
However, the ministry terming it a big achievement of the year, said this was an unprecedented step for over 4, 50,000 pensioners of EOBI who were depositing over Rs 22 million to the EOBI monthly.
Lauding the efforts of Zulfikar Bukhari in this regard, the ministry said the increase in pensions was suggested in November last year by the SAPM and the Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis & Human Resource Development submitted the summary in December.
The government was committed to bringing reforms in EOBI and improvements in Pakistan's one of the biggest institutions would be evident in a few months, Zulfikar Bukhari said.
Previously, the pensioners had demanded to enhance the amount to Rs 15,000 to which previous government did not pay any heed.
