Articles and letters may be edited for the purposes of clarity and space. They are published in good faith with a view to enlightening all the stakeholders. However, the contents of these writings may not necessarily match the views of the newspaper.
Woes of PBC pensioners
Through the columns of your esteemed daily, I want to draw attention of Ministries of Information and Broadcasting and Finance as well as PM Office to the plight of hundreds of pensioners of Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation (PBC), who have not been paid amount of commutation despite passage of several years, causing immense hardships to them.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif was kind enough to constitute an inter-ministerial committee to look into non-payment of pension to the pensioners of Radio Pakistan. The Committee was expected to look into the overall financial problems of the Corporation and approve additional grants to meet urgent requirements but thought it appropriate to order only immediate release of quarterly funds that enabled the PBC to pay the withheld pensions.
It may be pointed out that PBC has not paid the amount of commutation to all those who retired from service since January 2020. There are about 300 pensioners who are waiting for the payment of the money on account of commutation and the number is increasing with the passage of each day due to retirement of more and more employees. It is quite evident that the amount of commutation carries much significance to retirees as it is deeply linked to their post-retirement plans like building a house of their own and marriages of children. Non-payment of the amount in a timely manner also inflicts heavy financial losses on pensioners in view of steep devaluation of the rupee and ever-rising inflation.
The pensioners have been raising the issue with the management of the PBC, which says it was unable to resolve this problem because of shortage of funds. We request the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to take up the issue with the Ministry of Finance for release of the required funds to clear dues of all those who have not been paid on this account since January 2020.
ABID HUSSAIN AIJIZ
Islamabad
Donations campaigns
Historically speaking, the country is facing worst-ever floods and deadliest rains and hardly any area is saved from monsoon rains’ devastation. More than 1000 people have already perished, thousands of houses washed away or destroyed, livestock wealth has swept away in an unending manner.
Villages and towns have been razed to the ground and washed away and crops and green trees also uprooted and swept away. These heavy losses of men and material continue to occur every day across the country. Federal and provincial governments and authorities concerned down the line are doing their maximum to reach out the people in great distress and helping and providing relief to them to the maximum extent possible.
As the heavy losses which continue to occur every minute across the country are beyond the available resources of the federal and provincial governments, relief funds have been established by the prime minister and the provincial chief ministers for generating more and more resources through donations from philanthropists at home and abroad.
Officers and jawans of the defence forces of Pakistan as usual are also helping out the people in great distress and providing them relief, ration and medical-care round the clock in a quite appreciable manner. As the country is facing national calamity, more and more people falling its victims, the political and religious parties and their leaders are requested to suspend all their activities and reach out the people the people in distress and help them in their most difficult time.
The PM, CMs and Governors, federal, provincial ministers and parliamentarians irrespective of their political affiliation and other considerations should make their personal donations towards the Relief Funds. Such donations should be announced on the media daily in order to motivate their workers, supporters and people at large who need to be given confidence and trust that their every penny will be duly utilized for helping out their brethren and sisters in great distress honestly, sincerely and purposefully.
Those treading the corridors of powers directly or indirectly should lead the donation campaigns at the national, provincial, regional, district levels thus exhorting fellow citizens to also come forward and make generous donations for helping their brethren and sisters in very difficult time of their lives.
M Z RIFAT
Lahore
What a shame!
The government of Gujarat has granted remission to 11 individuals convicted of raping Bilkis Bano and murdering seven members of her family through the 2002 Godhra riots.
What a disgrace it is not just for India but for the entire world. The discharge of those convicted the Bilkis Bano rape case is disheartening.
The crimes dedicated within the wake of the 2002 Gujarat riots shocked not solely India, however, the entire world. Those responsible of such a heinous crime should not have been released earlier than time.
One wonders if the meeting elections in Gujarat scheduled for this year performed a component within the decision-making process.
JUBEL D’CRUZ
Mumbai, India
