Cabinet secy writes to finance secy: Address disparities in govt servants’ salaries

ISLAMABAD: The cabinet secretary has informed the secretary finance about the disparities in the salaries, allowances and pay structures of federal and provincial employees without mentioning that these distortions have been caused primarily by some powerful institutions – such as the Supreme Court, high courts, the Presidency, PM’s Office, NAB, FIA and others — whose employees are getting higher salaries than the rest.

At a time when the finance ministry is preparing the budget for the next fiscal year amid reports of a possible raise in the salaries of government servants, the purpose of this communication is to address the disparities, which, according to the cabinet secretary, are on the rise and getting exacerbated.

“Needless to apprise that this, being unjust and discriminatory, demoralizes the employees, which has resulted in many protests as well,” wrote the cabinet secretary recently. The finance secretary was also told that the matter has been discussed and deliberated upon at various fora such as the cabinet, cabinet committees and the secretaries’ committee from time to time.

In early 2020, it is said, the secretaries’ committee met and recommended a uniform raise of 120% in basic pay as a secretariat allowance for all employees from BS-1 to BS-22 of the federal secretariat. The committee also recommended “a reasonable executive allowance for federal secretaries and additional secretaries in-charge” of the ministries and divisions.

The cabinet secretary’s letter to the secretary finance also referred to recent discussions on the issue and said, “Lately, the matter pertaining to pay structure was again discussed in the cabinet meeting held on February 17, 2021, under agenda item ‘Grant of Disparity Reduction Allowance to the Employees of the Federal Government’”. This was done in the backdrop of the then ongoing protests by federal employees demanding a raise in their salaries.

“During the cabinet meeting, it was also highlighted that the matter was already reviewed by the secretaries’ committee and their recommendations have been awaiting deliberation/decision in the finance division since,” the letter read.

Sources, however, insist that what the secretaries’ committee had recommended was like furthering the disparities as the raise sought was for a specific class of the bureaucracy — those serving in the federal secretariat— besides giving an additional executive allowance to federal secretaries and the in-charge additional secretaries.

According to a source, the secretaries’ committee was expected to address the issue of disparities and distortions but it ended up serving itself by proposing a double raise for themselves — recommending a 120% raise plus special executive allowance for federal secretaries.

Media reports suggest that the federal government is working on plans to rationalise the pay and pension of government employees by eliminating the wide disparity in the salaries of employees of various ministries, divisions and departments. The federal budget for the next fiscal year 2021-22 will be announced in the first half of the next month and is expected to offer temporary relief of 15 to 20% in the salaries of government employees.

This raise, however, may not be extended to those employees who are already getting higher salaries because of the distortions and disparities caused in the past.

On March 3 this year, the government had allowed a 25% disparity reduction allowance after government employees protested in the federal capital. The allowance was aimed at reducing the gap in the salaries of government employees.

The sources also said that the government is considering the introduction of a contributory pension system for new recruits to minimise the pension bill. A separate pension contributory fund could soon be created for which the World Bank might provide the seed money.