BUJANOVAC PENSIONERS: A SMALL YUGOSLAVIA

Bujanovac - The Association of Pensioners of Bujanovac is one of the best organizations of pensioners in the Pcinj district because of what it does and how it does it, of the actions it undertakes and a large number of retirees that pass through its office.

It is always lively on the premises of the Association, which are located in a block of flats at the bus station. People come there to see each other, to exchange their opinions, to get engaged in some of the activities or to put themselves on the list of some of the benefits that the Association has on a daily basis.

“This Association is a small Yugoslavia.  We have Serbs, Albanians, Roma, Macedonians, Bulgarians …. here, as well as members of many faiths. Priests and preachers of Islam are on our lists too, because the doors of our association are open to everyone, "says Stanko Tasic, the President of the Association of Pensioners.

In addition to being the Chairman of the Executive Board, Mr. Tasic is also the Vice Leader of the Party of United Pensioners of Serbia (PUPS). Until recently he was the Leader of PUPS, but he gave the political part of the work over to the "fresh" pensioner and well-known Bujanovac journalist Zivota Matic, with whom he cooperates on many issues.

Mr.Tasic is an educated, eloquent and energetic man who is always active. Why is he, who is almost 80, like that and what is the secret to receiving pension for 20 years?  

“I work. I work and move around the whole day. When I am in the office, I don’t know what to start doing first. There are a great many things to do. It’s the same when I'm at home in the village of Lopardince.  I, therefore, simply have no time to get old”, said Mr. Tasic.   

His right-hand assistant is the Secretary of the Association, a female volunteer Mirjana Zdravkovic. The two of them are the key to solving many of the problems of people of the "third age", and everyone in the poor municipality has them. 

According to the latest data of the Pension and Disability Fund, there are around 4,200 pensioners in Bujanovac. Of course, not all of them are members of the Association, which means they don’t pay membership fees. However, the fact that makes the leadership of the Association of Pensioners restless and which they must seek a solution for, is that as many as 2,020 of them have the pensions amounting to less than 10,000 dinars.

That is why the Association is doing everything possible to ensure a decent life for these people in some other way.  Various benefits, such as free spa treatments for 20 members of the Association per year, up to 30 percent reduction on transportation provided by "Kavim Jedinstvo" and "Nis Express", buying various food and consumer products at reduced prices or on deferred payment, free medical advice, free legal advice, privileged life insurance and the like, can only be used by the members, whom there are less than 600, while the annual membership fee is only about 200 dinars. 

The annual budget of the organization is around 450, 000 dinars. With 30, 000 dinars per year, the largest "donor" of Bujanovac pensioners is the Union of Pensioners of Serbia.

Bujanovac pensioners have good times as well. Those are various trips to meetings and events and exchange visits to other associations.

 „These meetings of ours, wherever they take place, are beautiful and meaningful. Well, we traveled through Serbia and Macedonia and visited our friends in many cities. I travelled whenever I could and when I was invited, and I always came back with nice memories, "says Cane Stankovic.

And there are a lot of such meetings and visits.  Stanko and Mirjana say that the Association has regular contacts with retirees from Vranje and with those from all the municipalities of Pcinj District. They also travelled to Leskovac, Nis, Bela Palanka, as well as to some places in Macedonia.

This above text is part of the project "All the Colors of South Serbia", which “Bujanovac News” implements with the financial support of the Ministry of Culture and Information of the Government of the Republic of Serbia. 

Source: Bujanovac News and Coordination Body