K-P officials get salary bump amid inflation

Inflation may be at its absolute peak, but that may not be as much of a concern for employees of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) government who are set for a significant salary bump from grades 16 and up.

Employees up to Grade 16 will receive a 25 per cent salary boost, while those in grades 17 to 22 will receive a 20 per cent increase. The provincial cabinet approved the salary increase for government employees through a circulation summary.

The increase will be effective from July 1, 2024, and will be granted in the form of an ad hoc relief allowance, as announced by the finance department. The cabinet’s decision comes after an initial 10 per cent salary increase was announced in the current financial year’s budget.

However, following the pattern of the federal government and other provinces, the K-P government has now increased the salary to pacify employees who were unhappy over their lesser increments. To implement this change, an amendment to the Finance Bill 2024 will be presented to the K-P Assembly for approval.

In addition to the salary increase, the K-P government has announced a 15 per cent hike in the pension of retired government employees. A 10 per cent increase was implemented in the budget, which was subsequently increased to 15. The same raise also applies to family pensions.

In July, K-P Chief Minister’s Finance Adviser Muzamal Aslam linked a further increase in salaries of government employees to the payment of funds from the Centre. “If the federal government increases the salaries of employees by more than 10 per cent, the provincial government will follow suit. However, this increase will be subject to the payment of the entire tax liability of the province by the federal government, which will be paid lump sum from July 1.”

Muzammil Aslam expressed these views while addressing the negotiation committee of various government employee associations. Roedad Khan, Wazirzada, Naseeruddin, Salim Khan, Afsar Khan, Malik Ijaz, Akhtar Bibi, Ishrat Malik, Rafasit Mehr, Safarash Khan, Abdul Ghafoor, Sirajuddin, Azizullah and others were included in the negotiation committee.

In the meeting, different associations of government employees presented their demands to the finance advisor who said only collective demands would be considered. He added that the demands of the rest of the associations will be heard separately from July, and steps will be taken to resolve their issues.

The negotiating committee expressed various reservations regarding pension reforms, upon which the adviser suggested adopting a pragmatic approach. It was decided that work on the matter would commence after the federal budget.