Finance Division proposes special pay scales for highly qualified technical experts
PHOTO:FILE
The government has also allowed the Finance Division to introduce a new special salary structure for hiring services of the technical experts that are not willing to work under the existing pay scales.
The Finance Division has proposed a three-scale pay package to attract experts from the private sector in different fields. A pay package of Rs1.5 to Rs2 million has been suggested for scale-1, Rs1 to Rs1.49 million for scale-2 and Rs0.5 to Rs0.99 million for scale-3.
The division had been consistently receiving requests for salaries and perks that were above the Management Pay (MP) scales in case of highly specialised and skilled manpower.
It noticed that market salaries had gone so high that the MP scales had lost their relevance, particularly in the fields of electricity, petroleum, water, science and technology, climate change, finance and economic affairs and food security. Technical expertise is required in all these fields.
The Finance Division, in a recent cabinet meeting, revealed that the Power Division was seeking its restructuring by hiring qualified and experienced technical experts in a bid to get their technical support. The Power Division also proposed a special salary structure for hiring such technical experts that were not available within the existing pay scales.
The Finance Division proposed that based on need assessment, the technical experts could be hired on contract for a maximum two years, extendable for a further period of two years depending on their performance results.
The recruitment would be through open competition and pay packages would be set within the three new pay scales considering the qualification and experience of candidates and subject to recommendations of the special selection boards that would be constituted, it said.
The board for pay scale-1 will comprise a federal minister, state minister or an adviser to the relevant ministry and division, a secretary, a Basic Pay Scale (BS)-21 representative of the Establishment Division and two experts from the relevant field.
For pay scale-2 and 3, the selection board will comprise a secretary of the relevant ministry and division, a BS-21 representative of the Establishment Division and two experts from the relevant field.
A special selection board will undertake rigorous annual performance review of the technical experts.
During discussions in the cabinet meeting, it was pointed out that senior officers may seek premature retirement in an attempt to work as technical experts under the special pay scale which would cause a loss to the government.
However, it was countered with the argument that if someone wanted early retirement to work as a contract employee, it was his basic right.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 27th, 2018.
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