ISLAMABAD: Acting hours before employees were set to organise a protest, the federal government agreed to increase the pay packages of grade 1 to grade 19 employees by 15% on Wednesday, but omitted around a half-dozen departments that already have higher-than-standard pay packages.
The measure will narrow the salary gap between civil and military employees slightly, as the government gave all ranks of the armed forces a 15 percent pay boost in July last year, in addition to their special package.
Prime Minister Imran Khan also stated on Tuesday that the wages of paramilitary forces would be increased by 15%.
According to a late-night announcement by the Ministry of Finance, the government has agreed to provide impoverished personnel from Basic Pay Scale (BPS) 1 to 19 a 15% disparity allowance on running basic pay with effect from March 1. It was also advised that provinces adopt the same and use their own funds, according to the programme.
The ministry intervened just hours before a planned protest by leaders from numerous federal government employee unions. “We will still stage a rally to thank the government today (Thursday),” said Rehman Bajwa, a union leader.
The discrepancy allowance will not be available to departments that have never received an additional allowance equal to or greater than 100% of basic pay (whether frozen or not) or a performance allowance.
Employees of the federal government will be given a rise for the second time this fiscal year, after their salaries were increased by 10% at the time of the budget. The move, however, may cause friction between the government and the International Monetary Fund, which recently placed a condition that the government have a balanced budget in the current fiscal year, excluding debt payment costs.
Employees of the federal government, on the other hand, used the opportunity to demand a raise, as the air is already heavy with anti-government protests and surging inflation, which hit 13% in January.
According to the finance ministry, a summary for timeframe promotion has been established by the Finance Division to alleviate the hardships suffered by employees who have been locked in the same grade for a long period.
By the end of April, the question of post upgradation on the model of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa would be considered based on the conclusions of the study being performed by MS Wing of the Establishment Division.
According to the Finance Ministry, the merger of ad hoc relief/allowances into pay would be decided based on the report of the pay and pension commission and will be integrated in basic pay as per the agreement.
During the PTI government’s mandate, two chairpersons of the Pay and Pension Commission have resigned. As if they are unaffected by double-digit inflation, the government has excluded officers in grades 20 to 22 from the ad-hoc allowance.
The federal government also hiked the pay of grade 1 to 19 personnel by 25% in March of last year. Employees expressed their dissatisfaction with pay disparities amongst government departments.
Approximately 58 departments will be ineligible to receive the ad hoc allowance. The President’s House, the Prime Minister’s Secretariat, the Federal Board of Revenue, health personnel and establishments, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), all superior courts, the Law & Justice Commission of Pakistan, the Islamabad Capital Territory Police, the National Highways & Motorways Police, the Islamabad Model Traffic Police, the Airport Security Force, the Civil Armed Forces, the Intelligence Bureau, the Inter-Services Intelligence, the Federal Investigation Agency, the National Assembly, and the Senate Secretariat.
