Hundreds of government employees staged protests in Islamabad on Wednesday, demanding the withdrawal of recently introduced pension reforms that they say will adversely impact their financial security.
Demonstrators gathered at Secretariat Chowk, blocking both entrances to the government secretariat.
A heavy police presence, including senior officers, was deployed to control the situation, leading to clashes between police and protesters.
The employees called for an end to what they described as discriminatory policies, including the abolition of dual pensions and changes to the pension calculation formula.
They also demanded a 10% increase in disability allowance.
The government, which implemented the reforms on January 1, 2025, argues that the changes will reduce financial liabilities and bring Pakistan in line with international fiscal standards.
Under the new system, pensions are now calculated based on an average of the last two years' salaries, rather than the final salary drawn.
Authorities maintain that the new rules will help save billions annually, but protesters insist that they unfairly burden retirees who depend on government support.
Demonstrations are expected to continue as negotiations remain stalled.
Previously, The International Monetary Fund inquired about the accountability mechanism of civil servants having discrepancies in their asset declarations, as the overwhelming majority of the government employees still remains exempted from public declaration of assets.
The global lender also sought to implement a risk-based verification of the information disclosed by the civil servants and possible penalties and investigation of those officers whose assets exceed their declared sources of income.
However, due to a very narrow definition of a "civil-servant", it is estimated that hardly 25,000 civil servants' assets can be disclosed even after an amendment in the Civil Servants Act as part of the IMF condition for the $7 billion package, the government sources added.
The officers of the autonomous bodies, regulatory bodies like the State Bank of Pakistan, the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority, the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority and the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority and the provincial civil services will still remain exempted from digitally filling the returns and their subsequent public disclosure.
Majority of the financial decisions are taken by the government employees working in these organizations, which is also reflected in the numbers and the value of the audit objections printed by the Auditor General of Pakistan.
The IMF delegation also met with the Establishment Division and discussed the issues related to promotion, posting and the accountability of the civil servants serving in the basic scale of 17 to 22.
The delegation's emphasis was beyond just the disclosure of the information and taking concert action against the corrupt officers, said the sources.
The meeting was held the day the federal cabinet approved amendments in the Civil Servants Act of 1973.
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