SWABI: The employees of federal government departments have demanded pay raise in proportion to inflation rate and merger of their all adhoc relief allowances with regular salary.

The demand was made during a meeting here on Saturday.

Finance minister Ishaq Dar is to unveil the next federal budget on May 26.

The participants said the federal government had merged two adhoc relief allowances of 2013 and 2014 in the salary of its employees while announcing the 2016-17 budget but they continued to get four allowances as adhoc reliefs.

They added that the government had also announced 10 per cent adhoc relief on the running basic pay in the current.

The participants complained that they had long been awaiting the merger of the 50 percent increase in the adhoc relief allowance announced by the then PPP government in the 2010-11 budget.

District president of the All Irrigation Employees Union Abid Hussain, who was present on the occasion, said the government employees were hopeful that the federal government would announce the merger of 50 percent adhoc relief allowance with regular salary in the next budget.

“I have been getting the total adhoc relief allowance of over Rs6,000 for the last seven years but that is not part of regular salary,” said an employee.

Another government employee said those, who retired during the last eight years, hadn’t availed themselves of the 50 percent increase in adhoc relief allowance.

“It is not justified and therefore, it is unacceptable for us,” he said.

He also said in 2013-14, the federal government had increased the salary of its employees by 10 percent, while the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government gave 15 percent pay raise to its employees.

The official however said 10 percent of the raise was merged with the regular pay but the similar action on the rest was awaited.

Niaz Ali, district president of the United Municipal Workers Union, complained that parliamentarians got 400 percent pay raise but the government offered its employees unreasonable increase in salary.

Abdul Hakim, president of the Paramedical Association, said the federal government should increase the salary of its employees, especially paramedics, in proportion of inflation rate to help them efficiently manage the growing expenses.

Meanwhile, the Pakistan Wapda Hydro Electric Workers Union leaders and Tarbela dam deputy director have patched up things.

The reconciliation came due to the intervention of the leaders of different worker unions.

The two sides later decided that they would work together for the smooth running of the dam’s affairs and workers’ welfare.

Published in Dawn, May 7th, 2017