ISLAMABAD, June 7: The government employees are still waiting to get the bonus announced by Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali in recognition of their services during the last Saarc Summit, sources told Dawn.

The sources said when some of the employees contacted officials at the finance ministry to inquire about the implementation of the prime minister's decision, they were told that the ministry had not received any such directives.

"At first, one of the officials said the ministry did not have money to pay bonus, and later he even denied that the prime minister had made any such announcement," an employee of the fire brigade department told Dawn.

Some of the employees in the police and fire brigade departments had even taken loan in anticipation of the bonus to celebrate Eidul Azha. It may be mentioned here that the prime minister on January 7 had announced one-month salary as bonus for those government employees who worked during the Saarc Summit.

Talking to this reporter, the government employees quoted the statement of the interior minister, who had said: "All the security agencies have performed admirably. The remarkable arrangements made for the summit have gone to the credit of Pakistan.

In lieu of the meritorious services rendered by these agencies, the prime minister is pleased to grant one-month salary as a bonus to all the officials, who took part in these arrangements."

More than 500 police constables and officers fell sick while performing their duties during the summit. Most of them had been called from other parts of the country, especially from Punjab, to beef up the security arrangements.

"The government paid the bonus to the employees who offered their services for the summit," Ashfaq Gondal, press security to the prime minister, claimed while talking to this reporter.