ISLAMABAD – The federal government has extended its full support to the Pay and Pension Commission in preparing recommendations for appropriate relief for civil and military government servants and pensioners by removing distortions in next year budget and suggest a way forward on contributory pension.
The recently reconstituted Pay and Pension Commission has held its first meeting on Thursday. Advisor to the Prime Minister on Finance and Revenue Dr. Abdul Hafeez Sheikh addressed the inaugural meeting of the Pay and Pension Commission 2020. The Commission is headed by Ms. Nargis Sethi and is composed of senior professionals from the Public and Private sectors as well as serving Federal and Provincial Secretaries, AJK and GB and other senior officials of all the governments, who were also in attendance.
Speaking on the occasion, the Advisor Finance expressed confidence that the Pay and Pension Commission will come up with a financially viable solution to streamline the basic pay scales of Government employees, admissible allowances and pensions. The Commission would follow a consultative process to resolve the burgeoning expenditure on the Government exchequer. The current model for disbursement of pay and pensions is not sustainable, he added. While assuring the Commission his full support, the Advisor recommended to the Commission that the government is willing to consider Commission’s recommendation even prior to the finalisation of the Report. Pay & Pension Commission Chairperson Ms. Nargis Sethi was briefed about the rationale and mandate of the Commission. She explained that the Commission would review the existing pay and pension structures, allowances, perks & facilities and also to evaluate possibilities of their monetisation.
The Chairperson outlined formation of sub-committees which have been assigned terms of reference to deliberate on prevailing pay and pension system across the country. The success of the Commission is dependent on provision of reliable & authentic data in a timely manner from all concerned, she stressed.
Earlier in this month, the federal government had reconstituted the Pay and Pension Commission twice in eight months of its formation in April 2020 to suggest reforms in pay and pension of the federal government employees that it (the government) plans to implement in the budget for the next fiscal year (June 2021). Three months after the resignation of Pay and Pension Commission former head and former federal secretary Wajid Rana in August, the Finance Division has notified reconstitution of 25-member Commission to be headed by former federal secretary Nargis Sethi.
An official of the Finance Ministry had recently informed media persons that the government would have to go for contributory pension system for the fresh recruitment as rising pension liabilities would not allow to offer prevailing facilities to the new hiring. He said that recommendations of the pay and pension would not be applicable on the existing employees of federal and provincial employees.
In April 2020, Pay and Pension Commission was constituted by the federal government to look into the pension and salary structures of employees of both the federal and provincial governments as well as the armed forces, and suggest recommendations as increasing pension liabilities were posing serious challenge to the budget but within four months after its constitution, chairperson of the commission, Wajid Rana decided to resign.
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