LAHORE: A meeting that was presided over by the chief secretary has reportedly approved in principle the grant of superior executive allowance to all DMG (Pakistan Administrative Service) and PMS (Provincial Management Service) officers working in government departments or in the field.

Official sources informed Dawn on Tuesday that the meeting was attended among others by the secretaries of the finance and the regulation departments. The meeting agreed in principle to give the allowance to all the administrative officers.

The secretary finance was asked to calculate the financial impact of the allowance which officials said would not be too burdensome as per rough estimates.

They said a summary would soon be forwarded to the chief minister and the cabinet committee on finance and development for approval of the allowance.

It is believed that the package has been designed to make jobs for the PAS and PMS attractive in the absence of the Shahbaz Sharif government’s golden pay packages in public companies, projects and authorities discarded by the Supreme Court of Pakistan.

Official sources said superior executive allowance equivalent to 1.5 of the basic pay of all officers would be given if approved by the chief minister. In that case the current secretariat allowance could be withdrawn.

Officials were not sure whether the allowance would be calculated on the present pay scales of every officer, or the basic pay scale of every grade. “A decision in this regard is yet to be made,” an official said.

The allowance is being planned for PMS and PAS officers in BS-17 and above.

Published in Dawn, February 13th, 2019