Senate panel digs into CAA pension issue

ISLAMABAD: A Senate panel on aviation on Thursday unanimously decided to summon the Civil Aviation Authority board in the next meeting to address concerns of CAA’s pensioners.

The Senate subcommittee of the Standing Committee on Aviation was convened to address the failure to increase CAA employees’ pensions. Convener Senator Saleem Mandviwalla led an investigation to determine whether the CAA had adhered to the government pay scale in 1983 and which rules were applied by the authority in the year 2000.

During the subcommittee’s discussions, several aspects were revealed, exposing deviations between the CAA board and the organisation.

It became evident that numerous limits had been exceeded, prompting committee members to express their displeasure regarding the authority’s violation and misuse of public funds. Mandviwalla emphasised that no organisation, whether public or private, should be given unlimited financial power.

He stressed the importance of every organisation having an audit committee, and the board’s responsibility to oversee the financial health of the organisation. The senator also asked the Aviation Division method of calculation used before 2014 and after 2014.

The Ministry of Aviation officers defended their stance stating that the CAA had not revised their pay scale in 2022, but pensions were increased in the pay scale in 2023, effective from July 1 of that year.

However, the CAA and its administration did not follow their own rules. The trust fund, which was supposed to be maintained, was used inappropriately. The trust members were also part of the pay and pension committee, creating a conflict of interest. The Ministry of Civil Aviation further explained that there was a structural problem and incompetence within the system had severely impacted the organisation.

CAA former deputy director Anees Rehman defended his stance, saying that he had served the authority for 35 years. He claimed the CAA adopted federal government policies with the only difference of the basic pay; all other procedures followed the federal government policies. He also mentioned numerous changes within the organisation since 2014.

Additionally, petitioner Haseeb Rehman presented his case, stating that for the past four years, 65 percent of his pension had been surrendered to the CAA and his pension interest exceeded what he actually received. Senator Mandviwalla assured him that his problem would be resolved and urged the ministry to investigate the matter further.

The convener emphasised the federal government policies could not be cherry-picked based on convenience, and the system needed comprehensive regulation. “Due to a lack of structured regulation, errors occurred in pension maintenance,” he said.

Mandviwala demanded written documentation of pension calculations before and after 2014 and urged the ministry officers to rectify the incompetent decisions made by the authority. He questioned why these issues had not been investigated by the audit committee or other related committees.

The subcommittee unanimously decided to summon the board to the next meeting to address the concerns of pensioners.

Mandviwalla, stated that there could be no compromise on public pay and stressed the need to resolve the dichotomy of 2014.