Manual token system at NSC irks senior citizens

ISLAMABAD, May 10 (APP):Manual token system still in vogue at National Saving Centre, Muslim Town, Rawalpindi in this era of modern technology irking the senior citizens making routine banking a herculean task for them.
Murtaza Abbasi, 65, has to reach the Centre at 6 am to get his name registered and then issuance of token by the security guards deputed there after 8 am whenever he needs to do some banking transaction.
“The humiliation does not end here. It takes one hour more as the NSC opens at 9 am when the official concerned takes half an hour further to enter the tokens in an outdated ledger and then feed them in the computer system for withdrawal or deposit of cash or other transactions,” he told APP on Wednesday while waiting for opening of the Centre.
He lamented that after a three-hour hectic exercise one could just manage to enter the premises of the Centre.
A widow, Niyaz Fatima, who had all the way come from Sihala to withdraw pension, said she was over 70 and a heart patient, and she had to go through an exhausting day to run affairs of life once in a month.
Hussain Shah, a 75-year government pensioner, said many a time complaints had been lodged for adopting automated e-ticketing. “But it looks the NSC people want to carry this system as a legacy asset for even next generations,” he sarcastically remarked.
He said, “The activity is so complex that a group of five persons at same time is called to deal, consuming more time and creating mix-ups.”
He said some 200 clients daily visited the Centre while it had seating capacity for 40 persons at a time and the rest had to stand waiting for hours. It was an unfair treatment meted out to the senior citizens, he added.
An NSC official at the facility said they were aware of the problems being faced by the citizens and were gradually improving their quality of service.
He said earlier the condition was more pathetic, but now the clients are provided with comfortable sofas to wait for their turn.The demand for e-token system had also been forwarded to the high-ups and steps were under consideration to resolve all the issues, he added.