KARACHI: While putting up a fresh demand before the Sindh government, Mayor Karachi Wasim Akhtar has demanded the immediate release of up to Rs2.55 billion to pay off pension to some 3,994 pensioners of various departments of the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC), Pakistan Today learnt.
Insiders told Pakistan Today that more than 3,994 cases of pensioners are pending and the city administration has done nothing to clear the dues of elderly employees.
There are some 1,744 pensioners in the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation which requires Rs 1,055,814,492 to clear pension dues; 62 pensioners of SCUG (Rs 53,988,627); 11 pensioners at KMDC (Rs 5,107,716); 32 in KDA (Rs 14,306,486); District Municipal Corporation- Central 450 pensioners (Rs 298,205,805); District Municipal Corporation – East 368 pensioners (Rs 235,257,360); District Municipal Corporation – West 320 pensioners (Rs 195,513,619); District Municipal Corporation – South 606 pensioners (Rs 393,157,967); District Municipal Corporation – Korangi 275 pensioners (Rs 207,446,896); District Municipal Corporation – Malir 99 pensioners (Rs 82,054,369); District Council 26 pensioners (Rs 12,031,701) and only one pensioner in the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board KWSB which require Rs 195,515 to clear pension dues.
According to sources, owing to the accumulation of pension claims, the mayor has instructed KMC not to entertain further claims of retired employees of DMCs/DCK for payment.
Moreover, Mayor Karachi Wasim Akhtar has forwarded letter No Secy/Mayor/Karachi/112/2019 to the Secretary Local Government Department with the request to devolve pensions and provident funds to district municipal corporations/district council Karachi.
“The Karachi Metropolitan Corporation is receiving a good number of pension cases every day from different departments of Karachi Metropolitan Corporation, District Municipal Corporations and District Council, Karachi. Resultantly, the quantum of work, number of pensioners and amount payable in this respect is accumulating with the passage of time. Due to non-payment of pension dues, KMC has to face frequent agitation of retired employees as well as families of the deceased employees in the main head office of KMC”, according to an official letter.
“Presently, except KMC, no council in Karachi is maintaining the above accounts, which is mandatory under the Sindh Local Government Act, 2013. In view of the foregoing, it is again requested to decide the fate of 3,391 retired employees of KMC/DMCs/DCK in the following manner”, the letter added.
The letter further states: “Henceforth entire pension claims may be devolved to respective councils of Karachi so as to provide the facility to the pensioners nearest to their doorstep. The finance department, Government of Sindh may be requested to provide a one-time grant for Rs 2553.080 million to KMC for clearance of (the) backlog of pension claims accumulated in welfare department, KMC since 2014. The payment of monthly pensions to the old retired employees of KMC/DMCs/DCK over Rs310 million should be protected by the government, as the monthly remittances of KMC come to Rs90 million, which will not be enough to pay monthly pensions to over 22,000 pensioners throughout Pakistan timely.”