Amendments to relevant rules and regulations approved by the governor. PHOTO: MARIAM ESSA/EXPRESS
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) led provincial government has approved an increase in the perks and privileges for officials at the post of advocate general, it was learnt on Friday.
The move, however, casts doubts on the government’s persistent claims of pursuing austerity in its governance.
An official at the Civil Secretariat told The Express Tribune that the provincial government will now have to pay over Rs0.7 million to advocates general as their monthly salaries and allowances.
“The law and parliamentary affairs department has issued a notification to the effect, after Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Governor Shaukatullah Khan approved amendments to the K-P Advocate General (Terms and Conditions of Service) Rules, 2005,” said the official.
Elaborating the details of the revised salary accounts, an official of the law department said, “Following these amendments, non-practising allowance of advocate generals will now stand at Rs0.5 million against the earlier amount of Rs225,000.”
“House rent allowance has also increased to Rs100,000 from Rs35,000,” he added.
Furthermore, under the advocate general services rules, the law officer was allowed the use of a 1,300-CC vehicle for official use. However, with the amendments the advocate general would now be entitled to a 1,600-CC vehicle.
Other perks and privileges that the advocate general will enjoy include travel allowance admissible to Grade-22 officers, 300 litres of petrol and medical allowance equivalent to that of a provincial minister.
Apart from these, the advocate general can also make up to 2,500 local calls per month from his residential phone, free of charge, as well as the usage of the mobile phone with the bill not exceeding Rs4,000.
In response to a question about the government’s claims of austerity and the revision of perks, the officer said, “Various senior officers have received circulars directing them to adopt austerity measures, but, now the government itself increased the salaries of advocates general to such an extent.”
On December 28, Chief Minister (CM) Pervez Khattak formed two separate committees on austerity and monetisation. They were given a three-month deadline to formulate recommendations and action plans for enhancing the province’s income, minimising expenditures and promoting austerity at departmental levels.
However, to date, no such measures have come to the fore. Instead, the CM himself was subjected to criticism in the provincial assembly last week when documents submitted to the house showed he had been allotted three official residences. The government later denied these reports and stated Khattak was only residing in CM House’s Annex.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 15th, 2014.
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