Latest update June 6th, 2026 12:35 AM
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NIS and citizens’ contributions
Dear Editor,
I refer to a recent letter written by one Roshan Khan about a person who was deemed to be “one contribution short” of qualifying for their NIS pension benefits.
Dozens of people have related over the years that, when they applied for their NIS pension, they were told that they were short by one contribution. Is this a pattern of behaviour of the staff in that office that they just deemed folks to be short by one single contribution?
While it is possible that some people would be short by one single contribution, most of them said that they worked for reputable corporations who would have remitted the contributions, and they worked long enough to have qualified.
I personally never received my pension from the NIS. I worked for a large international company and when I resigned in 1989 to migrate, I requested a letter from my employers to be used as a reference abroad. I still have that letter but the NIS said that the company is no longer in Guyana so they can’t verify anything.
They informed me that I only made contributions in 1969. Well, I was in school in 1969. I started working in 1970. Where they arrived at that conclusion left me bewildered.
Is it possible that when the NIS migrated to a computerised system that errors were made in the input of the information? Another point is why can’t the NIS pay the pension on a prorated basis as is done in most countries. E.g. If someone needs 750 contributions to qualify and they have 740, why can’t they receive 740/750 of the monthly benefits? Something needs to be done to make the system fair and equitable to all. The Minister responsible needs to take a more proactive approach to this issue.
Regards,
Rahman Mohammed
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