President Dr Arif Alvi on Friday upheld the decision of Wafaqi Mohtasib ordering the Lahore Electric Supply Company (LESCO) to restore the commuted portion of pension to the widow of a deceased employee along with increment on the restored portion of pension from the date of his retirement/death.
President rejected the representation filed by LESCO against the decision of the Wafaqi Mohtasib and expressed dismay over the fact that the widows of pensioners had been deprived of allowances and adjustments that had been made by the Government over a period of time, the President Office said.
He regretted that it should not have happened, saying that Pakistan should be a compassionate country.
According to the details of the case, the complainant’s (Mukhtar Begum) late husband, an employee of LESCO, retired in April 2005 on attaining the age of superannuation and died in December 2013.
After the death of her husband, the complainant was granted family pension regularly but on lesser rates. The complainant stated that she was drawing monthly pension of Rs 21,928 whereas it should have almost doubled after 15 years, having incorporated all increments made from time to time by the Government.
Feeling aggrieved, the complainant approached the Wafaqi Mohtasib for redressal of her complaint. Wafaqi Mohtasib in its order, dated 09.03.2021, stated that it was unjust that WAPDA Pension Directorate had not fully followed the government policy and the widow had not been allowed back increases on restoration, whereas Director (Pension) WAPDA had circulated instructions to all DISCOS/GENCOS/NTDC, under SOP-2002, to allow back increases to all pensioners on the restored portion of pension.
