The Ministry of Finance and Revenue has once again ruled out the possibility of immediately increasing salaries of civil servants despite being threatened with a strike by over five dozen government organisations and labour unions from January 12 onwards.
According to details, employees of state-owned enterprises (SOEs), pensioners and labour unions have announced to stage an indefinite sit-in in Islamabad from Tuesday. Government employees are demanding an increase in basic salaries by up to 100 per cent, in addition to an increase in house allowance, medical allowance, conveyance allowance, and upgrade in posts of the clerks.
They are also demanding parity in wages and perks, reasoning that there are around 26 civilian and military departments receiving 50 per cent to 100 per cent higher salaries than the standard pay packages for rendering “extraordinary services”.
According to a report by the Express Tribune, Finance Minister Abdul Hafeez Sheikh had chaired a meeting in this regard on Thursday, however, the meeting did not make any headway, leaving the government to handle the protestors ‘administratively’ only.
The meeting was attended by key cabinet ministers and the Pay and Pension Commission chairperson.
It may be noted here that the Interior Ministry has informed the Prime Minister’s Office that 61 organisations including clerks, employees of autonomous bodies of Pakistan International Airlines, Utility Stores Corporation, PIMS, Radio Pakistan, Allama Iqbal Open University, PTCL, Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL), pensioners and labour unions have called for a protest inside the red zone on January 12.
The initial estimates show that the annual cost of demands was over Rs100 billion, which the Ministry of Finance cannot bear due to budget deficit related conditions set by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
it may also be noted here that the government has not increased salaries of government employees in the current fiscal year despite close to double-digit inflation in the past two years and a nominal increase in salaries in the previous fiscal year.
