KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah has approved Rs381.8 million for payment of salaries and pension to former and present employees of the Sindh Council Unified Grades Service (SCUGS).

He directed the local government minister to ensure proper disbursement of pension to the pensioners.

Mr Shah, who was presiding over a meeting of the local government department at CM House on Tuesday, was earlier briefed by Senior Finance Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah and Local Government Minister Jam Khan Shoro on the Sindh Local Government Board (SLGB).

The chief minister said it was quite depressing that the SLGB could not pay salaries and pensions. Pensioners must be taken care of in terms of payment of their pension and such other benefits, he said, adding that he was shocked to know that most of them had been waiting for payment of the their gratuity for years.

Senior Minister for Finance Syed Murad Ali Shah said he had already gone through the requirement of SLGB expenditures. The pension and maintenance expenditures all together came to Rs381.8 million annually, while Rs132 million liabilities were due on account of payment of gratuity/commutation and an increase in pension for the year 2014-15 up to 2016.

Earlier, briefing the chief minister on the SLGB’s financial health, Local Government Minister Jam Khan Shoro said the government had enhanced the SLGB’s annual share from Rs140 million to Rs250m in 2014. This amount was not sufficient to meet financial requirement of the board. The pensioners who retired from service in November 2013 and afterwards had been waiting for their commutation/gratuity, he added. “Due to this crisis, the SLGB has not released pension to more than 1,000 pensioners according to prevailing rates, including 10 per cent increase announced from July 2014,” he said.

Local Government Secretary Noor Mohammad Laghari elaborated that the SLGB share had not been increased from 2004 to June 2013. He said the SLGB from its Rs250m share could not disburse pension to its retired officials while the number of pensioners had reached 1,200.

The secretary said the family pension had been revised from 50 per cent to 75pc, medical allowance from 20pc to 25pc since 2010, seven per cent cost of living allowance and such other allowances had further enhanced the financial requirement of the board.

Mr Laghari said he had worked out expenditures of the SLGB. Only the pension contribution in respect of 3,067 SCUG retired employees came to Rs305m, he said. Apart from it, the contribution of maintenance of the board was not enough, he added.

Finance secretary Sohail Rajput said he had worked out that the SLGB required Rs312m per annum for payment of pension to the SCUG and Rs69.6 million for SLGB maintenance.

Chief Secretary Rizwan Memon and Principal Secretary to CM Alamuddin Bullo also attended the meeting.

Published in Dawn, May 11th, 2016