MUZAFFARABAD (Kashmir English): Hundreds of retired local government employees in Azad Kashmir are going through financial challenges due to funds being stopped for the past 8 months.
These retirees, who have worked 35 years in their organizations, are struggling. The retired sanitary workers, who have been doing cleaning work for 30 years and are now suffering from serious ailments, can no longer afford medical help without the pension being paid.
This situation occurred after the Prime Minister announced that pensions and salaries would be linked to the Accountant General’s Office.
Therefore, pensions were stopped for these workers. The workers involved are requesting the Prime Minister to intervene and release pensions, and they threaten to protest if it is not resolved.
As a related matter, the government of Azad Kashmir released Rs 1.087 billion for pensions to retired local government employees, covering pensions from July 2021 to November 2024.
Recently, there has been approved to finalize the local government salary and pensioning issues, including that pensions will now be paid directly by the Accountant General’s Office.
