Many old and frail pensioners queuing up outside the National Bank branch at Pakistan Railway Headquarters were found complaining about lack of staff to expedite the process.

When asked about the online pension facility offered by the government, they said it was a lengthy and complicated process beyond their comprehension, so most of them had to visit the bank to draw pension after going through long queues.

`In view of high inflation ratein the country, the government should increase our pensions.

The government has been increasing regular employees` salaries, ignoring the pensioners.

We too are part of society, and have served the country for 40 years in different capacities.

Despite this, we have to face a lot of trouble in this old age,` said Osama Tariq, who is a retired Wapda employee.

`The pensioners have been devoting their time and energy for the progress of their respective departments and the country, but in return they get nothing on attaining superannuation.

Instead, their problems get fur-ther compounded,` he said.

`On reaching superannuation, we also have different age-related issues which unfortunately remain unresolved. Instead, after retirement life becomes more difficult. This makes us thinl< sometimes that we devoted our whole life to our jobs in vain,` he added.

He demanded the pension amounts should be directly sent into the pensioners` bank accounts so that they didn`t have to stand in long queues outside banks.

To avoid any irregularity, he suggested, the government should seek affidavits from pensioners after every six months ora year to confirm they were alive.

This would save these old people from the inconvenience they go through while visiting banks every month, he said.

Jan Mohammad Siddiqui, a retired food department employee, told Dawn: `I did not face any problem so far with regard to my pension. I get it without any hassle thanks to some bank officers who know me.

Therefore, ever since my retirement in 2002, I faced few problems.

When asked why he was not using the online facility, he said for an old pensioner like him the system was difficult to grasp, sohe preferred to draw his pension through pension book.

Syed Irfan Ali, another pensioner, complained: `I am now 72 and I still have to come to the bank, sometimes for two consecutive days, to get my pension. Still I have to be in the queue as nothing has changed for us pensioners.

He added that during extreme weather (summer or winter) the pensioners` problems compounded as they had to suffer a lotin long queues to get pension.

`So, I request the government to resolve our issues as soon as possible,` he said.

Mr Osama, said: `There is nosignificant annual increase for the pensioners in the budget due to political pressure.` He wanted more say of economists in the budget, hoping that would result in `balanced` allocations.

Bilal Ahmad was more concerned about price spiral than the inconvenience. `Queuing up (in front of bank) does not matter, what matters for us is the prices of commodities which are increasing day by day. As compared to the general price level, raise in our pension is meager.

Besides, we have age-related health issues. In these circumstance, how can we survive?` he added.