Govt’s largesse for retired elite

ISLAMABAD: The re-employed elite of government servants-- comprising retired judges, generals and federal secretaries (or their equivalent in different civil service groups and cadres) --is traditionally offered small fortunes from taxpayers’ money by the government and are entitled to huge salaries as well as pensions from the public kitty.

Compared to this retired but re-employed elite, serving generals, federal secretaries and Supreme Court judges-- including even the Chief Justice of Pakistan-- are in a relatively disadvantageous position.

Dozens of key positions at the Centre and in the provinces are held by such re-employed members of the government servants’ elite at taxpayers’ expense – a travesty in a country facing a serious financial crunch.

A key aide to Prime Minister Imran Khan when asked about this government largesse towards the elite of government servants, agreed that the policy needed to be reviewed and the government could refer the matter to the Pay and Pensions Commission.

In most cases, such retired persons use their connections and clout to secure re-employment in plum positions. To save public money and discourage the unending struggle of government servants for post-retirement appointments, re-employed government servant should be offered only the actual salary of the post they are appointed on. The pension of such re-employed officers should be stopped until the term of their post-retirement appointment has been completed.

According to official documents, a retired Supreme Court judge, holding a key position at the Centre, draws over Rs2.4 million per month from the public exchequer. He and his ilk in the federal and provincial governments draw salaries equal to that of a Supreme Court or High Court judge and are also entitled to a monthly pension.

In addition to the huge salary and the hefty pension, these functionaries also enjoy enormous perks both as retired SC judges and because of their present jobs. For example, the retired SC judge holding a key post at the Centre gets Rs1,313,000 as gross pay, which includes Rs1,239,000 basic pay, Rs6,000 telephone allowance and Rs68,000 as house rent. In addition, he draws Rs928,847 as pension, which include Rs815,133 as his monthly pension, Rs56,465 as special addition in the pension, Rs45,799 medical allowance for pensioners, and Rs11,450 as medical allowance 2015 for pensioners.

Interestingly, the medical expenses of these retired judges and their families is covered in their present jobs but they also draw a considerable amount every month as part of their medical allowance as pensioners. As retired judges, they are allowed a driver, a monthly petrol allowance etc but they also have all such perks and more attached to their present post-retirement jobs.

They are entitled to an official residence and, in case they don’t avail this facility, theycan draw house rent. But in both cases, they are entitled to any required home renovation as well as utility bills paid from public money.

For transport, the retired judge is entitled to one 1,800 cc chauffeur-driven car with 600 liters of petrol per month maintained at government expense for personal and private use. He is also given the option to purchase an official car at depreciated value on leaving office.

Retired judges of the apex court are even otherwise entitled to a telephone facility of over Rs2,000 worth of free local calls per month, electricity and gas bills, 200 liters of petrol per month, free water, two guards, one driver and one orderly -- or to draw special additional pension equal to the pay and allowances of a contingent driver and orderly as admissible from time to time to the employees of the same scale of the Supreme Court of Pakistan.

While ex-secretaries and retired generals get a much lower pension than what judges get, they often eye positions for re-employment that carry huge salaries.

For the same reason, a number of posts in different government entities -- including regulatory authorities, autonomous and semi-autonomous bodies, federal and provincial public service commissions, the Planning Commission, NAB, the CPEC authority, commercial entities falling in the domain of defence etc -- have typically been earmarked for retired government servants. The pay package and perks for these positions have been made far more attractive than what a serving secretary or general draws. And not only do these retired officials get better salaries than the serving officers but also enjoy generous pensions.