On second thought: PML-N to reconsider increment freeze for civil servants
Finance minister constitutes committee; asks for a report within a week.
Finance minister constitutes committee; asks for a report within a week. PHOTO: FILE
ISLAMABAD:
It took less than 24 hours for the government to reverse its landmark decision of not increasing the salaries of government servants — for the first time in nearly three decades.
The budgetary move was denounced with such fervor that the government was forced to reconsider its decision and constitute a committee to review the possibility of increasing civil servants salaries, revealed sources in finance ministry.
The committee will be headed by Zafar Hasan Raza, additional secretary of regulations wing of the finance ministry. An official from the Pay and Pension Cell of the Establishment Division and some other senior officials will be members of the committee. The committee has been assigned to prepare a report within a week after reviewing various options.
A finance ministry official confirmed that a decision to constitute the committee was taken on Thursday evening by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar.
The federal government’s decision has affected up to 650,000 federal employees and dimmed hopes for an increment in salaries to more than two million provincial government employees.
The resentment also increased because the government decided to increase pensions by 10%, which the civil servants took as a move aimed at appeasing retired army officials more than the retired civilian employees. For the next fiscal year Rs171.3 billion have been allocated for pension bill and Rs132.8 billion or 77.5% of it will go on paying pensions of the ex-military men.
While addressing post budget press conference, the Finance Minister Ishaq Dar maintained that the government would increase employees’ salaries in the next Budget of 2014-15. He said only three months back the salaries of the federal government employees had been increased by 20%, thus there was no justification for another raise.
When he was reminded that the 20% increase was given to only employees of the Pak Secretariat –the seat of federal bureaucracy, he did not respond. The March increase had not been extended to the employees of the attached departments and the corporations.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 14th, 2013.
It took less than 24 hours for the government to reverse its landmark decision of not increasing the salaries of government servants — for the first time in nearly three decades.
The budgetary move was denounced with such fervor that the government was forced to reconsider its decision and constitute a committee to review the possibility of increasing civil servants salaries, revealed sources in finance ministry.
The committee will be headed by Zafar Hasan Raza, additional secretary of regulations wing of the finance ministry. An official from the Pay and Pension Cell of the Establishment Division and some other senior officials will be members of the committee. The committee has been assigned to prepare a report within a week after reviewing various options.
A finance ministry official confirmed that a decision to constitute the committee was taken on Thursday evening by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar.
The federal government’s decision has affected up to 650,000 federal employees and dimmed hopes for an increment in salaries to more than two million provincial government employees.
The resentment also increased because the government decided to increase pensions by 10%, which the civil servants took as a move aimed at appeasing retired army officials more than the retired civilian employees. For the next fiscal year Rs171.3 billion have been allocated for pension bill and Rs132.8 billion or 77.5% of it will go on paying pensions of the ex-military men.
While addressing post budget press conference, the Finance Minister Ishaq Dar maintained that the government would increase employees’ salaries in the next Budget of 2014-15. He said only three months back the salaries of the federal government employees had been increased by 20%, thus there was no justification for another raise.
When he was reminded that the 20% increase was given to only employees of the Pak Secretariat –the seat of federal bureaucracy, he did not respond. The March increase had not been extended to the employees of the attached departments and the corporations.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 14th, 2013.