ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) has pushed the families of several of its most dedicated Central Secretariat staff members to the verge of starvation.
Well-placed sources said PTI had neither reversed the 50pc salary cuts imposed on Central Secretariat staff since October last year, nor had it cleared overdue dues despite repeated promises, leaving the employees in deep distress.
The affected staffers said the party leadership broke its promise by neither restoring reduced salaries nor releasing any of the withheld half-pay despite nine months having passed. They said the leadership’s callousness was evident in dismissing several loyal employees who endured detention and torture, instead of recognising their sacrifices.
Sources said that while the party leadership continued to enjoy all perks and privileges, they were unwilling to spend a single penny on the party, only doing so when their leader Imran Khan was present to witness it.
They lamented that PTI lawmakers, who once branded treasury legislators as oppressive, warmly embraced them to secure their own massive salary hikes exposing the leadership’s glaring double standards. The sources added that months ago a senior party leader admitted that the PTI had received Rs3 million to clear outstanding dues for its media team, but no action was taken yet to resolve the issue.
Another staffer remarked that while the party and its leadership often condemned government injustices, the PTI itself had failed to deliver justice to its own employees.
He stated that last year PTI Patron-in-Chief Imran Khan had directed all provincial and national assembly ticket holders, successful or not, to contribute Rs240,000 annually, either as a lump sum or in two installments, to support the party secretariat’s operations. Despite being told sufficient funds were collected, the staffer stated that nothing had been done to ease the employees’ hardships.
“We informed top leaders, including Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan, PTI Information Secretary Sheikh Waqas, Raoof Hasan and Shibli Faraz, but to no avail, as each deflected responsibility, distanced themselves from the issue, and refused to act,” he said.
The staffers alleged that the party leadership used PTI Additional Secretary General Firdous Shamim Naqvi to fire employees, who did not have direct connection with the staffers, in an apparent attempt to deflect blame and avoid accountability.
A senior leader, wishing not to be named, said it was correct that a month ago Rs3 million were collected for the salaries of the media team and Secretariat staff.
“It is also a fact that the party has been facing severe financial crunch. People have even stopped or reduced funding to Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centre fearing that it may trigger anger of unseen forces. However, it is a matter of embarrassment for the PTI that pending salaries, which is a small amount, could not be paid to staff,” he said.
When contacted, Head of PTI Think-Tank Raoof Hasan said he was looking into the issue to ensure that the pending salaries would be paid to the staff. “However, I am not in the loop at the moment,” he added.
Party’s Information Secretary Sheikh Waqas Akram told Dawn that he had written to the party that pending salaries should be paid and the salary be restored.
“There is a gap of four months and I am trying my best to address the issue. I fully support the Secretariat staff which stood with us in thick and thin,” he said.
Published in Dawn, June 18th, 2025
