It takes a death to wake govt from slumber

In keeping with its tradition of acting only when the last straw has broken the camel’s back, the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP)-led coalition government released funds to Pakistan Railways within hours of the death of a pensioner, who died of a heart attack while waiting in queue for his pension on Wednesday.
President Asif Ali Zardari, Railways Minister Ghulam Ahmed Bilour, the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) administration and even Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leaders reacted immediately following the death of the pensioner to resolve the plight of retired Railways employees.
The retired railway employee, named Mahmood Khan, had been standing in a long queue since Tuesday night to get his pension for the current month outside the NBP’s Mughalpura workshop branch. Khan fell unconscious while standing in the queue and was rushed to a nearby hospital, where doctors said he died of a heart attack. Another former PR employee named Jaffer Hussain also fainted. President Zardari took serious notice of the pensioner’s death and called for an immediate enquiry into the incident. He also took notice of the long queues of pensioners at the NBP’s branch at Railways Headquarters in Lahore. Presidential Spokesman Farhatullah Babar said the president ordered the railways secretary to visit the headquarters and investigate the situation. He told the secretary to submit a report to the prime minister and send a copy to the Presidency within three days. The president also told the finance secretary, railways secretary, Pakistan Railways general manager and the NBP president to ensure that funds were provided and promptly disbursed among the pensioners.
SUO MOTO: Following the response from President Zardari, Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry took suo motu notice of the incident.
The Finance Division released funds for payment of salaries and pensions to the Railways staff till November 5. Pakistan Railways sources said the decision was taken during a meeting between the Railways Ministry and Finance Ministry and it was decided that Rs 25 billion would be released for the payment of salaries by the 25th of each month by the Finance Ministry and all employees would be paid their salaries by the first of every month.
Bilour also announced compensation of Rs 500,000 for the family of the deceased pensioner. NBP Manager Ehsan also announced following Khan’s death that the banks would be open 24 hours a day until the payment of pensions was completed.
The pensioners questioned why the salaries of the PR bureaucracy were not delayed, even though they were much higher than those of the workers or pensioners. They said the PR administration had lied to the entire nation and the pensioners just to end the workers’ strike.
Meanwhile, Railways authorities said that an agreement had also been reached between PR and NBP, which would set up five separate counters at the bank’s branches for the payment of salaries and pensions.