News
Still made to ‘work’ to get their dues
View(s):Pensioners complain of undue delays, official lethargy that have forced them to make many trips to Pensions Department. Mirudhula Thambiah and Aanya Wipulasena report
After years of dedicated public service their struggle still continues. Aged and some of them even ailing, these pensioners from different parts of the country flock to the Pensions Dept. to sort out administrative stumbling blocks in the way of receiving their pensions.
How long do we have to wait? The lament of a pensioner
Some of them have not received their dues for several months, sometimes even a year due to lack of a document or the failure of an office to furnish relevant papers on time. Edmond Kothalawala (62), a father of two, from Kandy is one such long-suffering pensioner we meet at the Department at Maligawatte, Colombo 10. Retired in 2006, Mr. Kothalawala was a machine operator at the Kandy Water Board. He complains that he has had to travel to Colombo more than 15 times to verify matters.
“They made us work hard at our work places but when we retire they do not bother to help us even with the pensions that we are entitled to. I’ve been travelling many times to and from this department and sometimes I have to turn back simply because the official who is in charge of a certain section is on leave. We are old now and we come from far away, these officials have to be more responsible,” he charged.
Mr. Kothalawala claims he has all the necessary documents with him but the officials always have some lame excuse.Sixty-four year old G. K. Karunadasa has been struggling for the past three years to get his monthly pension. He retired three years ago from the Ampara Department of Irrigation but due to some paper work not being in order, due to no fault of his, he says he has been denied of his pension.
Even the widows of some pensioners have had to face a similar plight. H. Charlotte (52) from Mirigama is the second wife of I. P. Wettasinghe who had worked as a cook at the Teachers’College at Halpitigama. They had six children all over 21 years except for one child. After her husband died one and a half years ago, his pension had been abruptly stopped without any prior warning. The widow claims officials at the Divisional Secretariat had wrongly accused her of not looking after her children and that is why the payment of the pension had been stopped.
“I have not got his pension for six months because officials said I was not taking care of our children. My neighbours know that this is not true. Even the Grama Sevaka spoke to the officials, however they claimed since the documents were sent to the Pensions Department they could not do anything about it and to get it sorted out here,” she said.
“I do not have any other means of income. Even to travel here to Maligawatte I had to ask my neighbours to lend me some money and travelling is hard for me as I’m sick. I loved my husband and took care of my children. Now I’m on my own,” she said wiping a tear.
Waiting for redress: Pensioners and family at the Department. Pix by Mangala Weerasekera
Another widow, the wife of a Supreme Court Judge from Mount Lavinia hadn’t received her husband’s pension arrears since September last year. She said she had written to the accountant of the Pensions Department and the Divisional Secretariat at Ratmalana a number of times and each time she was promised that the matter would be settled by December, but to no avail.
When the Pensions Department Director General D. Swarnapala was contacted regarding this matter, he said the problem has now been settled following a visit to the Pensions Department. Meanwhile All Ceylon Pensioners Association Convenor M. P. Perera said many pensioners were unaware that they could solve their pension problems at the level of the Divisional Secretariat (DS) instead of having to make a trip to the Pensions Department.
“Sadly there are shortcomings in the Divisional Secretariat, which is the reason why most pensioners are forced to go to the Pensions Department. Another problem they face is that every year a pensioner has to produce a life certificate to the Grama Niladhari and if a pensioner is unable to do so as a result of being bed ridden etc. the Grama Niladhari has to visit his/her home and get this document sorted out. However sometimes this is not done causing great inconvenience to the pensioner,” he said, adding that in some cases these documents are not filled for years.
Mr. Perera said sometimes the problem arises as a result of a widow not possessing the card that is issued by the Pensions Department. These cards are often misplaced and the widow is left with the burden of doing all the documentation once again to get such a card. Meanwhile Mr. Swarnapala told the Sunday Times in some cases the pension cannot be granted to widows as they do not have the necessary documents or are not qualified to receive the money.
Edmond Kothalawala: More than 15 trips to the Pensions Dept.
“Around 99 percent of the work can be decentralised at the Divisional and District Secretariat level, where the matter can be sorted easily. But generally people come to the Pensions Department for small matters as they believe there could be delays. He said there were instances when people fabricated stories claiming pensions that they were not entitled to.
Mr. Swarnapala said around 514,000 people receive pensions and the government allocates Rs.111 billion annually for pension payments.
Follow @timesonlinelk
comments powered by Disqus