LAHORE: The Pakistan Railways has strongly denied the news item that Pakistan Railways is making payments to pensioners without verification. The institution has a foolproof system for payment of salaries and pensions.

Any retired employee has to show his presence in the concerned office before commencement of pension which is recorded in a register. Pension is paid through banks which also have their own verification system to countercheck record provided by the pensioner to the railways.

Senior officer of Pakistan Railways Babar Raza has clarified that to ensure that the payment is being made in a transparent manner, pensioners have to submit, twice a year, the life certificate and no marriage certificate in case of family pension.

Additionally, the concerned bank verifies the pensioners through biometric system and this exercise is done every year. The verification process was done in 2021 to remove any ambiguity in the light of the orders of the Federal Minister of Railways after which the amount was recovered from the accounts of the deceased pensioners.

The website has made this news based on the data of 2020 when the verification process had not started, so it has nothing to do with the current record and facts. He further said the process of verification is being repeated this year.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022