LAHORE — The Punjab Assembly has passed the Public Representatives Laws Amendment Bill 2025, allowing full salary payments to provincial ministers, the speaker, and the deputy speaker during periods of official leave — a significant enhancement to the financial privileges of public office holders in the province.
The amendment updates the Punjab Ministers’ Salaries, Allowances and Benefits Act 1975, which previously limited leave allowance to 74% of an official’s monthly salary.
With this change, ministers who earlier received Rs74,000 in leave allowance against a Rs100,000 salary will now be entitled to the full amount. In practice, this means:
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Provincial ministers will now receive Rs960,000 per month as leave allowance
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Punjab Assembly Speaker will draw a full Rs950,000 while on leave
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Deputy Speaker will receive Rs775,000 during their leave period
The amendment comes just months after the Punjab Assembly approved a sweeping salary revision for elected representatives and provincial officeholders in December 2024. That legislation, introduced by Punjab Finance Minister Mujtaba Shujaur Rehman, had raised the monthly salary of MPAs from Rs76,000 to Rs400,000 and introduced steep increases for other positions:
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Ministers: Rs180,000 → Rs960,000
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Speaker: Rs125,000 → Rs950,000
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Deputy Speaker: Rs120,000 → Rs775,000
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Parliamentary Secretaries: Rs83,000 → Rs451,000
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Special Assistants and Advisers: Rs100,000 → Rs665,000
The cumulative impact of these salary and allowance revisions has drawn both criticism and concern amid ongoing fiscal constraints and demands for public service reform in the province. However, supporters argue that competitive compensation packages are necessary to attract talent and professionalize governance.
The bill was passed through a majority vote in the assembly, continuing a trend of financial legislation favoring elected officials over the past year.
