Dozens of veterans and government retirees held a protest demanding to receive their pensions on Saturday, saying that the government should not remain silent about this issue.
“It’s been almost ten months that we have been asking for our pensions, which is part of the right of government officials,” said Najibullah, a retired employee. “Nobody else is available to feed me. I have no money. God knows that we borrowed 15 rupees from a store owner today, to get to the department of pensions,” said Abdul Rashid, another retired employee. “Three or four of these folks don’t have the money to rent a car, and some of them even passed away from hunger,” said Abdul Ahad, another retired employee. Retirees, the majority of whom are teachers, academics, retired military people, and public workers, claim they face a range of difficulties. “The officials deceive us every day, while a pension is our right, but it has been taken from us,” said Abdul Mohammad, another retired employee.
Meanwhile, officials in the Ministry of Finance said last week that they had finalized a scheme for the payment of pensions for the veterans and government retirees.—Tolo News
