KARACHI: The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the Sindh Assembly has recommended to the provincial government for recruitment of 800 secretaries to fill the vacant posts in 1,600 union councils (UCs) across the province.

The PAC meeting, chaired by its Chairman Nisar Ahmed Khurho, also ordered the local government (LG) department to computerise data of salaries and pensions of all the employees of local councils in the province and provide data of officials up to the UC level.

The meeting was attended by committee members Qasim Siraj Soomro and Taha Ahmed Khan, LG department Additional Chief Secre­tary Khalid Haider Shah, Local Government Board Secretary Kanwal Nizam Bhutto and other officers.

The PAC reviewed the audit reports of the LG department and the board for 2019 and 2020.

The additional chief secretary told the PAC that the data of the employees of local councils across the province was being collected and work was underway to bring them on the radar under the integrated system.

He said that in the first phase, the integrated financial system was being implemented only in Karachi, under which ghost employees would be eliminated.

The additional chief secretary told the PAC that the Octroi Zilla Tax (OZT) share of local councils had been increased from Rs80 billion to Rs160 billion, out of which the local councils had to provide pension to the retired employees from their OZT share.

However, he said, in October 2023, the KMC refused to give pension to the retired employees, saying that the town municipal corporations should pay pensions to their employees.

The secretary said the finance department had said that pension money was being provided to the KMC, but money was not being given to TMCs in the form of pensions.

He said the LG department had written to the finance department on the issue of payment of pension to the retired employees of local councils and local government institutions

Published in Dawn, March 3rd, 2025