For long now, pension holders have been facing great difficulty in withdrawing their pension from banks authorised to distribute it. While the district account office, Barisal branch of Bangladesh Bank, and Sonali Bank are authorised to distribute pension, a majority of pensioners are enlisted with Sonali Bank, which has but one cashier to do the needful. As a result, most pension holders, a majority of them suffering from various ailments, have to wait long hours at the counter to get their money, not to mention the hours spent in commuting to and from the bank.
On Monday, when this Correspondent visited the main branch of Sonali Bank in the city, there was a serpentine queue of pensioners with just one cashier servicing them all. One Md. Mujahar Ali (99) was sitting on the floor waiting for his turn.
Mujahar retired from government service as a police inspector from Barisal Kotwali Thana in 1982. “I live in Nobogram village of Jhalakathi district, some 22 km from here. I started from my house at 6am. I suffer from cardiac and gastric problems apart from diabetes. The road journey is very painful but I have no option,” he told this correspondent. He added that last month, it was night by the time he reached home after collecting his pension from the bank. Pensioners A.B.M. Rustom Ali of Bakargang, Md. Keramot Ali of Char Kawya and Md. Razzak Mollik of Nobogram had similar stories to share with this newspaper.
Not only men, a large number of women too were there. All of them had but one demand: a digital account transfer system for their pension. They demanded they be issued an ATM card so they can draw their pension from a bank nearer their place.
Acknowledging this, Deputy General Manager, Pension Unit, Sonali Bank, Barisal, Md. Nasir Uddin Talukdar, said that there are 4,988 pension holders registered with their branch, which is why there is a crowd on the first five days of every month.
With only one cashier to dispense the money, it is a problem, he said, adding that if the government digitised the pension distribution system, the problem can be solved. Sources from Barisal division said there are 10,876 pension holders in Barisal division, including about 6,000 in the city, who have retired from government services.
Every month, the number of pension holders in the city is increasing by over 100 persons. While a few of them draw pension from the district account office and Bangladesh Bank Barisal branch, a large number is enlisted with Sonali Bank.