Sindh grants 20pc ad hoc relief allowance to civil servants

The Government of Sindh has granted a 20 per cent ad hoc relief allowance to all the civil servants of the provincial administration, and a personal allowance for officials of grades one

to five.

A notification issued to announce this reads: “The Government of Sindh is pleased to sanction an Adhoc Relief Allowance 2021 at 20 per cent of basic pay with effect from July 1, 2021 to all civil servants of the Sindh government as well as contingent paid staff and contract employees against civil posts in basic pay scales [BPS] on standard terms and conditions of contract appointment.

“The amount of Adhoc Relief Allowance 2021 will be subject to income tax and will be admissible during leave and the entire period of leave preparatory to retirement, except during extraordinary leave. Moreover, the allowance will not be treated as part of emoluments for the purpose of calculation of pension, gratuity and recovery of house rent.

“It will not be admissible to the employees during the tenure of their posting and deputation abroad, and will be admissible to the employees on their repatriation from posting and deputation abroad at the rate and amount which would have been admissible to them had they not been posted abroad.

“The term ‘basic pay’ for the Adhoc Relief Allowance 2021 will also include the amount of the personal pay granted on account of annual increment(s) beyond the maximum of the existing pay scales.”

Personal allowance

The notification further read: “The personal allowance, meant to remove discrepancy and bridge the gap between gross salary and minimum wages, i.e. Rs25,000, will be admissible to the employees in BPS-1 to BPS-5 (excluding police constables).

“The personal allowance is applicable to all those employees of BPS-1 to BPS-5 whose gross salary is less than 25,000 and will be digestible and adjustable against future increments as gross salary reaches to minimum wages, i.e. Rs25,000.

“It will not be treated as part of emoluments for the purpose of calculation of pension and gratuity and recovery of house rent. The above Adhoc Relief Allowance 2021 and personal allowance will be accommodated within the budgetary allocation for the financial year 2021-2022 by the respective departments and no supplementary grants will be given on this account.”