Re-employed pensioners to get reduced salary

ISLAMABAD: The federal government has allowed pensioners to draw their pensions during the re-employment period, provided that their salary is reduced by an amount equivalent to their gross pension.

This step has provided relief to thousands of re-employed pensioners working in 36 departments, including the President Secretariat, Prime Minister Secretariat, Supreme Court of Pakistan, Senate Secretariat, National Assembly Secretariat, Election Commission of Pakistan, and many others.

Earlier, the Ministry of Finance had asked the re-employed workforce to get a salary or pension and barred them from getting both simultaneously. It was conveyed to the Regulation Wing of the Finance Ministry that the condition of choosing between salary and pension in case of re-employment will result in creating difficulties for different bodies to retain their workforce. For instance, in the case of regulatory bodies, the government had to hire a specialized workforce, and in the case of hiring from the private sector, it would be hard to find people who do not have any vested interests.

This has made it impossible for re-employed people to continue working in their organizations. Keeping in view different representations, the Ministry of Finance came up with a solution that during the re-employment period, the salary amount will be provided after deducting an equivalent amount from the gross pension.