SAHIWAL: The PML-N-led government has not only withdrawn the 25pc tax rebate for public sector teachers and researchers but has also quietly deducted the issued rebate from their ongoing month (May) salaries, a move executed through the FBR and the Accountant General of Punjab.

Sources added the Accountant General of Punjab issued an official directive in a letter, dated May 6, 2025, instructing all the district account officers in the province to withdraw the rebate granted to teachers and researchers under the previous notification issued on May 22, 2024.

Reports indicate that following the instructions, district account officers collectively deducted rebate from teachers’ May salaries, just before Eid, with individual reduction ranging from Rs30,000 to Rs75,000 per teacher. It means teachers are getting salaries with deductions ranging from Rs20,000 to Rs75,000.

The tax rebate was originally granted as a result of protests led by the All Government Employees Grand Alliance (AGEGA) in Islamabad last year. After negotiations between AGEGA leadership and a PML-N delegation, headed by Rana Sanaullah, an agreement was reached on March 10, 2024, leading to its approval by the federal cabinet. However, despite the cabinet’s approval, the FBR has now issued new directives for withdrawal of rebate with immediate effect, under a notification, dated April 21, 2025.

AGEGA’s provincial general secretary Faiza Rana condemned the move of the PML-N government, stating that the withdrawal of the rebate and subsequent deductions were implemented without prior notification or intimation and that teachers only discovered the salary cuts after the funds had already been deducted.

She claimed that the Accounts Office quietly reduced teacher salaries after cutting rebates.

Rehman Bajwa, who led AGEGA’s negotiations team in Islamabad, called the withdrawal unfortunate, saying that parliamentarians had seen salary increases of 500 to 700pc while teachers/researchers faced substantial deductions just one week before Eid.

Published in Dawn, May 28th, 2025