Karachi: The Sindh Employees Social Security Institution (SESSI) has decided to increase up to seven times the pension paid to the disabled registered workers and to the families of the deceased registered labourers in the province.
The decision to this effect was taken at the 165th meeting of the governing body of the SESSI held here on Saturday with Sindh Labour and Human Resources Minister, Saeed Ghani in the chair. The meeting approved the surplus budget of SESSI for the upcoming financial year 2023-24 having a total value of Rs 1.777 billion.
The major increase in SESSI’s budget is for the allocation to pay the pension to the disabled registered workers or to families of the deceased labourers. The major increase in pension is going to benefit a total of 2572 workers or to their families in Sindh.
Those getting a monthly pension from Rs 700 to Rs 1,000 will now get Rs 7,000; those receiving a pension from Rs 1001 to 2000 will now get Rs 9,000, and those getting a pension from Rs 2001 to Rs 3750 will now get Rs 12,000 a month after the fresh increase as given in the new budget of SESSI.
It is worth mentioning here that the SESSI has already increased the payment of assistance to the labourers and their families in cases related to childbirth, Iddat, marriage and education of children, death, and disability.
The highest allocation in the budget of over Rs 8 billion has been reserved for providing healthcare facilities to labourers. A sum of Rs 82 million has been reserved for providing assistance to the workers who receive injuries in the line of duty, over Rs 78 million has been allocated for payment of grants in the case of illnesses, childbirth, and death, Rs 2.4 million for the welfare and rehabilitation of the registered workers, and Rs 8.5 million has been reserved for the Iddat cases. The budget allocates Rs 340 million for the developmental expenses of the SESSI.
The meeting finalised the plan of hiring 160 doctors on a meritorious basis for the SESSI-run hospitals in the province. The appointment letters will be issued to these doctors in the upcoming financial year. The meeting was informed that a total of 5499 doctors applied for these vaccines. The interview call letters were issued to 5265 candidates. Some 858 candidates were shortlisted after the test and interview. Out of the shortlisted candidates, 651 doctors appeared in the second interview for the job.
While chairing the meeting, the Sindh Labour Minister, who is also Chairman of the SESSI’s governing body, asked the officials concerned to spare maximum financial resources for paying maximum privileges to the workers.
He emphasised that other unnecessary administrative expenses of the SESSI should be slashed. He said the maximum financial resources available to the SESSI should be spent on the welfare and well-being of the workers and their families as per the basic charter of the institution.
