An RTI request has revealed that civil and military pensioners living abroad receive their pensions in foreign currency. There are as many as 164 pensioners, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who live abroad and receive their pensions in money other than the rupee. This contrasts with the reported concerns of retired government servants residing in Pakistan complaining about the non-payment of allowances — which they receive in rupees.
The issue would have remained under the radar had it not been for RTI activist Naeem Sadiq struggling to obtain details of this issue after finding out about it. He had initially heard about this through an acquaintance, who had told him about a retired squadron leader living abroad but receiving a pension from Pakistan in dollars.
Sadiq then filed an RTI request to the Pakistan Air Force under the Right of Access to Information Act (2017), inquiring about the number of retired PAF officers living abroad and receiving pensions in foreign currency; he didn’t ask for their names, The information however was not shared. Then he knocked at the door of MoFA, inquiring how many pension cases of such individuals are processed through it.