THERE is a strange, illogical and discriminatory lack of coordination between the Employees Old-Age Benefits Institution (EOBI) and the National Savings for a particular segment of retired workers.

Those working with public and private organisations registered with the EOBI, on attaining the age of superannuation with a minimum 15-year history of regular contributory payments, are entitled to monthly pension.

The amount has recently been scaled up to Rs10,000, but it is still being disbursed at the old rate of Rs8,500, but that is a different story for some other day.Coming back to the policy stuff, if medically declared unfit to work by the Social Security Board and the EOBI Board separately owing to blindness, paralysis or any other ailment a worker is still entitled to pension even ifthe tragedy strikes before the age of superannuation.

However, any private-sector worker either declared physically unfit before superannuation, or even those who retire after attaining 60 years of age, are not considered EOBI pensioners by the National Savings.

As these EOBI pensioners are not considered pensioners, they are not allowed by the National Savings to invest their retirement benefits or savings in pensioner schemes, like Behbood Savings Certificates or any savings certificate of high yielding monthly profit. This facility is said to be only for retired public-sector employees.

It is incomprehensible that when one government institution has been disbursing monthly pension to registered organisations without any discrimination, why another government department has been refusing to accept them as pensioners, especially when in doing so it is depriving them of their due right.

Will the relevant authorities enlighten the general public on this anomaly, and take immediate corrective measures by directing the National Savings to do away with such discriminatory policies? Naveed Ahmed Lahore